勇気 COURAGE
by Find-A-Way-Today
Summary: Courage. She would need a lot of it if she was to make it in this world. She would need courage to face the truth about her clan, to find the brother lost to her. She would need courage to protect the team that became her family, to kill the snake who bit her, and to change how people saw the demon that taught her the truth. Courage. Ironically, it would become her favorite word.
1. 前 Mei

COURAGE

勇気

Book One: **始める**

* * *

-Prologue-

前 Mei

Before

* * *

"Do not try to live forever. You will not succeed." ~ George Bernard Shaw

* * *

~Authors Note~

Konnichiwa Minna-San!

It's me, Find~A~Way~Today here with my Sakura-Centric story, Courage. It will be non-canon for a certain bit, because in order to make everything work out I have to play with the timeline a bit, but hopefully you guys won't mind. Anyway, there will be another authors note at the end so please read that. Now, Enjoy the story!

Anything italicized, _or like this_ means thoughts, and or what the person is thinking, or sounds, like _Waa!_

"This means talking"

Disclaimer: I, in no way shape or form own Naruto or any of it's associated characters, plot, personal, ideas, etc. And do not wish to be sued for the misconception that I do. Don't sue, cause' I'm broke. ;)

* * *

Death.

It was a constant, the only thing in this world that would never change. Beautiful, and gloriously eternal, it surrounded them all and would one day consume the very being of every last thing on earth. Death was inevitable.

_But no._ He mused; his tongue flickering out to wet his chapped lips. _Not for me. Death will bow down to me, and I will live forever._ He could taste the iron in the air; the metallic tang spared nothing, not even his tongue as it retreated back behind sharpened teeth. Even inside his mouth, it followed; the pungent taste of his own life force pooled, bathing his tongue, and staining his teeth a glorious crimson red.

The world around him was stained red with the life of his enemies, the ground, saturated by it squelched beneath his feet, buildings were splattered like abstract art with red, and even the sun seemed to bleed crimson into the sky. He breathed, and his nostrils burned sweetly as the welcomed smell of burning flesh and blood attacked them. _A bit cliché, no?_ Even he bled. Lifeblood trickled over his lips and ran scared from the wounds on his chest, but they were trophies, proof of battle, and prof of victory. His robe was tattered, torn to pieces, and he was certain that there was more cloth feeding the fire now, than clinging to his dirtied skin. Everything was dead, only he was alive, and it was all made possible by his own strength. He shuddered, the knowledge that his power prevailed, that he had spilt this blood by his own hand was nearly enough to make him high. He had won, and lived. They had lost, and died.

_Waa!_

Normally, the cry of a wailing child, so disturbed, would be music to his ears, but now it nearly made him flinch for it meant that he was not quite champion, yet.

His eyes opened in a flash of saffron, and they quickly searched out his final target. _Hm._ He thought, a sadistic grin perched comfortably upon his face. _Who would've known you would be the last, hm? Must've slipped my mind._

He prowled down from his perch at the top of the charred hill, and down into the gory fray that once was a village, only to stare at the three, bloodied bodies, which rested, at his feet. The two, larger carcasses lay on their sides, cradling the third, infantile one snugly between them, as if to protect them even in death. The clouded emerald eyes, and dirty blond crop of hair that sprouted from the largest body made him scowl despite his temper, and kick it's chest_. _The body rolled over, away from the other two and the blood soaked earth squelched as it landed on it's back. _Pathetic, useless, lowlife. _The list went on and on, and he could not be happier that the person- no, thing – at his feet was dead and gone.

He returned his attention to the two, remaining bodies, but stopped once he set his sights on the larger one. Almost instantly, heedless of his power, his gut clenched, his throat swelled and memories leaked from their prison in his mind.

"_Aniki! Aniki, wait up!"_

He couldn't help but match the words to a face, young and bright, _living_, with eyes the color of citrine and onyx hair that challenged the blackness of his nightmares. He felt a flash of horror. _Not horror_. He reminded himself. _I don't get scared._ But nothing he told himself could change the fact that, that face was now staring back at him. A face so similar to his own they had been confused on more than one occasion.

Her eyes, even with the clouded lust of death, were the same citrine from before. The paleness of her face, from death or natural complexion he didn't care, was unnoticeable behind the blood and dirt that caked it. Smudged tear tracks blazed a trail through the grime. Pitch black wisps of hair screamed to be touched, even in death, and so he did reaching out he fondled a strand between his fingers. _Oh, Imouto._ He thought, fingering the rough hair with something akin to fondness. _It didn't have to be this way. You were strong, you were smart, and yet you chose to love some mutt. You chose this._ But she had, he had offered her a chance, a chance to come with him. The same, powerful blood ran through their veins, and so he offered her the chance to abandon the wretched lizard she companioned with, and go with him so that she may live to her true potential.

She had wanted it, _Smart girl I trained her well_, wanted it badly, and yet instead of taking his hand, she had attacked him. Her own flesh and blood! She had grabbed his hand and used his body as a conductor for the lightning that soon after swamped him. He could still smell his own burning flesh, though he could not feel it because she had also fried his nerve endings, and knew he would need a new one soon.

With a final, dissatisfied sigh, he brushed over her eyes, closing them. "Just remember, Heiwa-Chan, you chose this for yourself. Sleep." He whispered, and stood. A final glance around at the utter carnage confirmed that his work was done, he had no reason to linger now, and so he turned, away from the burning bodies of those who might have called themselves his blood brothers, and walked away.

The wailing cries of the third body followed him as he did, and he smirked. _I am still the champion, even if you live. _He thought. _For you are too pathetic for even I to kill, so die. Die in the arms of your mother and the eyes of your father, and remember that I have killed your entire family._ And as he thought this, his legs carried him away. Away from the death, from the burning, from the blood, and from the wailing girl, still swaddled in the cotton blanket of their clan, with blond hair dyed carmine by the blood of her parents. Her eyes were green, and though he ignored it, deep in the pit of his gut, he had a feeling that this was only the beginning.

* * *

Target word count: 1,000

Total word count: 1,150

Hello again readers!

I really hope you enjoyed the Prologue of this story! So please, if you did and even if you didn't I'd really like to know! So please, READ, REVIEW, FAVORITE AND FOLLOW! BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY **REVIEW!**

P.S. Can anyone guess who's POV this chapter is from?

P.P.S. This is an open pairing story, i haven't YET decided on who to pair Sakura up with yet, so start voting via reviews or PM me now! Because if you guy's don't dictate it then i'll chose.

~Japanese-ey Translations~

(Most of these are just ballpark guesses due to the scant Japanese I know, Google translate, and a few other sites so please correct me if I'm wrong!)

前 （めい） ＝ Mei = Before

勇気 （ゆうき）＝ Yuuki = Courage

始める (はじめる)＝ Hajimeru = Begin

Until next time!

Find~A~Way~Today.


	2. 平和 Heiwa

COURAGE

勇気

Book One: **始める**

* * *

-Chapter One-

平和

Peace

* * *

"I started having these dreams of flying. I was free. Sooner or later though, you always have to wake up." – _Jake Sully_ "**Avatar"** James Cameron

* * *

~Author's Note~

Ohayo Minna-San!

So, i cleaned up this chapter a bit, mostly just editing Sakura's thoughts and stuff so ya. Hope none of you guys mind this. A new chapter should be up in a couple days so stay tuned for that!

* * *

It was peaceful….

In short, it meant that somehow, someway, there was a time and place in which hate and anger, grief and sadness, misery and regret, all collectively seized to exist. In their place, a sort of silent state of nothingness occurs, but it is not as bad as it may sound. That nothingness, somehow manages to instill a sort of hope; one that is born from the absence of war, of battle, and of one's fear from it.

It is so rare - this state of peace – that most believe it does not exist, that it is simply just something humans as a whole have chalked up to be yet another one of their impossible goals in life. That such a ludicrous idea could be born only from the mind of those who have lost everything, and – scrabbling to take the reins of life back from insanity – conjured up an idea so outrageous, so incredible, that it might take their entire life to reach it.

Both are true.

There are two _very_ different kinds of peace. The most common being that of world peace, or lack there of. Where everyone and anyone must get along together in harmony, and no longer will the battles rage or the fire's burn. That is the idea of the man who thought himself cheated out of life.

But, there is another kind of peace. One that occurs within the very heart and soul of every human, every creature, and every living, breathing thing on this planet so much so that it is not in fact that hard to find. It is the peace of heart, of spirit, and of soul. Of mind and body, fire and water, earth and air, and everything else in between. It is when one allows themselves to separate the physical from the spiritual, and allows their tethered soul to roam, to be truly free and not bound by the heavy duties of ones heart.

And somehow, in this moment, she had managed to let loose the ropes that tied down her soul and stumbled upon this rare moment of peace. Someway, she had managed to come to terms, to let go, of all that troubled her in that moment to allow herself a silent conversation with the energy of the universe.

It was so wrong.

She was a ninja for Kami's sake! And not once had she ever heard of a ninja – a ninja, one who kills and forever wears the blood of his enemies upon his hands – finding peace. It was absurd, the idea!

Though, she supposed that to all but a rare few ninja, only the first kind of peace existed. The kind born from one's weariness of war, of fighting, and of all the battle that had so far consumed their very souls. As it most often does when one's occupation is that of a ninja. That kind of peace was, well, it was kind of like smoke, always slipping through their fingers. Oh sure, they could fantasize about it all they wanted, claim they were fighting for it and that one day it would come, but all ninja knew it was just a lie to keep their weary spirits fighting.

But she had always been a sort of silent rebel at heart- For god's sakes she had pink hair - challenging the age-old laws that resided all around her, picking them apart to know if their intentions were as true as the day they were created. She had always looked for something more, as it was the human nature to do so, but not that of the ninja, who were inclined to obey their higher ups like dogs without question. Instead she took the harsh imposed laws of life in stride, and would always find a way to weasel around the fine print, to find a better answer. One may call it what they like but she thought of it as an intense sort of curiosity.

And so, after chasing away the mild feeling that she might be breaking some ancient, and undoubtedly outdated anti-inner peace law, she decided to embrace this newfound state of mind. Embrace it in such a way since she had stumbled upon it, that she would try – oh gods, she would try – to make it last as long as possible, maybe forever if she could.

Easy, right? So all she had to do was just keep her eyes closed, and maybe, just maybe, she could make it-

"Sakura!"

-Last. Of course she should have known better, because things like this, like peace - whatever the hell that really was- were just to good to be true.

And so, she reluctantly returned to the harsh, unforgiving reality that was her own. And did so with eyelids scrunched tightly, fists curled, and the slow beat of a mantra repeating in her mind.

_Just ignore him, just ignore him…_

"Oi, Sakura!"

An irritated hiss escaped her curled lips, making the girl's feature resemble that of an irritated wolf to a certain extent. Her eyelids – so thickly decorated with their lashes – peeled back, first the left, and then the right to reveal a torrent of jade brewing beneath their cover.

"Ugh, Kemuri!" Her arms flailed wildly, threatening to hit her familiar who sat so unfortunately close to her. "What the hell was that for, huh? Did you not see me meditating? C'mon, you had to have seen me!" she growled, her arms crossed indignantly with an air of to-obvious irritation towards the great beast.

Only to be met with the simple reply of a raised eyebrow in silent question, shown by the one brow that was not buried beneath said creature's sooty forelock.

"**Psh, he probably couldn't see us behind that mop of twigs on his face… we should cut it off."** Most would call this… voice, an extreme case of schizophrenia, an identity crisis, or at nicest, an extremely real alter ego. Sakura - lacking both the knowledge and the time to care – just called the strange, ever-present and annoying critic inside her mind 'Inner-Sakura' as was dubbed upon the oversized forehead of her strange counterpart.

The pinkette quickly dismissed her Inner-self's comment, and returned her focus to the smirking horse that sat beside her. One look at his impressively smug face and Sakura was suddenly hit with both the urge to wipe the smirk right off his face via ninja slap, and the notion that he had whatever was coming to him.

"You know-" she drawled, torrential jade eyes narrowing at the sight of his increasing smirk that was slowly, but surely de-railing her train of thought until- "Gods! Don't give me that look Kemuri!" a quick nudge, and whisper of encouragement from her Inner spurred on the rant. "And if it hasn't already gotten stuck like that maybe I should just smack it off your face!"

Jade clashed with sepia as the two creatures had an ever-intense stare-down, eyes locked in a battle of the ages where no blood would be spilt, and the only risk posed was from dry eyes and lack of eye drops on both sides. After what seemed like eternity to the young genin, who still refused to allow her eyes their watery refuge, only one thought came to mind, _Gods? Did Nin-horses ever blink?_ No, but apparently they had an allusion that they were masters of the ever successful win by guilt technique.

"Mah, mah, Sakura. Your words are tearing apart this old horses heart, ne?" The Equine offered up his best, heart broken face. And complete with his quote, '_irresistible_' bambi-eyes, did absolutely nothing to sway the irritated expression that was planted stubbornly on Sakura's face.

She snorted, "Oh, c'mon Kemuri your anything but old! You're only fifteen for Kami's sake! Five years older than me!" Her face twitched as she fought the ever-contagious grin that threatened to spread from the face of her companion. "Kemuri! Oi, it's really hard to be serious when your grinning like, like…" Her face scrunched up in a number of emotions, eyes shutting themselves off for a moment before flying back open. "Like a Naruto!"

Silence reined for a few moments, allowing her latest comment to stew in the crisp, morning air. And only when the irony of the remark was all but tangible, did Sakura's jade eyes suddenly widen in realization. A small hand quickly came up to smack her forehead unceremoniously, staining it a similar blush shade as her cheeks – but for very different reasons.

A giggle escaped her lips as she locked eyes with the great, champagne shaded nin-horse, "I can't believe I just said that-" she suddenly paused, shivering as an eerie chill crept up her spine and the hair on the back of her neck suddenly stood at attention.

And suddenly it wasn't just the Ninja and her horse in the clearing anymore, they had an – not to mention unwelcome – visitor. Now, despite Sakura being what a certain stoic friend of hers had dubbed a '_newb ninja'_ the pinkette was still blatantly aware of the chakra that had just stormed the area.

And she – true to her ninja training – was instantly hugging the ground, confident in the knowledge that the proverbial ocean of grass the Hokage's mountain offered would hid both her, the massive Nin-horse, and the horrifyingly pink thing she called her hair from the intruder. Her breathing slowed and quieted to an almost non-existent level, as she tried to become "_one with nature_" like her academy teacher Iruka-Sensei had said once. She shivered, trying to forget the day she had been convinced he turned into a hippy.

Now, the average genin was not very seasoned when it came to the in's and out's of chakra, barely being able to mold their average sized amounts into only the most basic of forms.

Luckily Sakura was not the average genin, and though her pools of chakra were a bit more modest than most, she could manipulate them expertly. _Chakra control, that's what Anko-Nee called it… I think._ She wondered absentmindedly before re-focusing on the slippery, there but not really substance known as chakra.

Sparing a quick glance at Kemuri who nodded his massive head in return, assuring her the chakra or it's owner hadn't moved yet Sakura deemed it safe to focus for just a moment. Her eyes squeezed shut and she concentrated on the minty green colored stuff that seemed to flow just like blood throughout her body. Her fingers twitched and curled.

'_Serpent'_

The chakra came from all parts of her body, rushing to fill the molds with expert precision. The shape of a shuriken, or throwing star. Her hands twitched again.

'_Ram'_

Tiny particles, dust perhaps, but yet too pristine to be anything but crystal coated the solid chakra, changing it. The item inside was now solid. Two fingertips touched, and eight knuckles did the same.

'_Horse'_

And suddenly her eyes were open again, jade burning brightly as she sprung into action and onto the back of the ever-present nin-horse.

"Kesshō: Rokkaku Shuriken!" Her fingers quickly gripped the newly materialized crystal weapons, and after spurring Kemuri into an impossible run, she quickly turned in the direction of her target and let them fly.

"Poof"

Sakura frowned, her face scrunched up with predictable chagrin as she buried her fists in the Nin-Horses mane so she would not waste her chakra.

"Damn." Kemuri, sensing his rider's lack of chakra to spur him on, slowed to a shuffling halt. "So it was a shadow clone then." She sighed, mentally berating herself for not trusting her gut instinct. "Yup, definitely going to need to work on that one later, ne Kemuri?" He simply snorted in response, eyes dancing back to connect with hers for the briefest of moments.

The seconds ticked at unbearable pace, time somehow seeming to grind to a halt amongst the pregnant silence that hung so heavily in the air, and the eerie lack of action. Simply, it reminded Sakura of the drawn-out, predictable, yet necessary moment of suspense in a horror movie.

_No one ever attacks with just one shadow clone though._ She thought, recalling upon one of the many lessons her Nee-Chan had taught her. Her fingers twitched, anxious to snatch up a weapon as they felt slightly – naked at the moment, and her gut churned. '_Clones are the key tool of deception; used to avoid deadly detection. Found in groups of three when smallest, upwards of one hundred at their tallest. Remember these three things; Distract, attack, overwhelm_.'

Sakura frowned, mulling over the old academy rhyme in her head once more, _Distract, attack, and overwhelm. So that means… _Click. Almost instantly, Sakura was hugging Kemuri's neck, minty green chakra fighting to flood her legs as she unraveled her opponent's battle tactic.

"Kemuri, run!"

The massive Nin-Horse wasted no time, and without a moment to lose he launched himself into action, and away from their previous spot; hurtling them both into a breakneck run most Jōnin would have trouble keeping up with, let alone see.

"**Damn, you really cut it close. Our heads would've been lopped off like a-"** Sakura growled, quickly cutting off her peanut gallery of an Inner-Self.

_Look, Inner not the time okay_! she growled, ducking to avoid a low tree branch as the duo entered the forested outcrop of her training field._ If you're going to say anything then please, make it be useful. Otherwise you can just shut your yap, you got that?_ The pink-haired genin hissed, before promptly ignoring whatever witty remark her other self was sure to come up with and returning her attention to more urgent matters.

Like not making it out by the skin of her teeth for instance.

The frigid bite of the torrential mountain water brought Sakura back to the real world, gasping for air after the shock of the freezing liquid wore off. "Kemuri." She hissed, fingers grappling for his slippery mane as she quickly stole a glance behind her in search of enemies.

The enormous equine chuckled, throwing her a hearty look to go along. "Kemuri! Stop joking around this is serious!" she huffed; guiding him towards the shore from behind mottled pink locks. "You didn't have to go jump into a goddamn river now did you? We could have just circled around one more time."

"True, but you were spacing out and so I thought I'd take a little detour and wake you up." The horse chuckled in response as the duo clambered up onto the rocky bank. Sakura growled under her breath, before collecting up her chakra and then spreading it out upon the ground. She cast it like a great fishing net, searching, and hoping that she could catch the enemy before they caught her.

Her Inner chuckled, and Sakura couldn't tell if it was just the weighty suspense or the twist of her gut but it sounded sinister, and dark, and like impending reality. **"You know what they say Sakura-Chan, it's kill or be killed when you're a ninja."**

She was only twelve feet out, twelve feet away from danger or death when something akin to the sound of rustling grass but with sinister intentions reached her ears. The sound easily elected an involuntary flinch out of her, as she retracted her chakra. She had found her enemy.

"Snakes." She breathed, as the whole world around her seemed to freeze for just a moment.

Sakura had never liked snakes. Ever.

She slowly, as if not to prompt the hidden enemy into action leaned forward to whisper in the horse's ear. "Kemuri, I think that there is three of them. Can you keep them back for a moment?"

It was a stupid question and she knew it. Of course he could hold off a few (undoubtedly oversized) snake summons for a moment, but alas it never hurt to ask. Sakura's jade eyes drifted to her companion, watching as his ears rotated like a satellite dish before he slowly nodded his still dripping head.

The corner of her mouth quivered up, as she gently lowered herself down to his back. The gears of her mind had already jumpstarted and churned with a gumption she didn't think possible. She needed a plan; one that would work and she needed it now. And Sakura had never failed to disappoint, at least not yet. For even before Kemuri had the chance to shift his weight and paw twice, the young genin had her plan.

And not a moment to soon, because the enemy never waited long and suddenly Kemuri was moving, rearing, his hooves ablaze with fire before they came crashing back down again in an explosion of heat and earth and dust. The moment her horse's great flaming feet had hit the ground the fire had spread, like yawning so contagious it now surrounded them in a ring of heat. But Sakura knew all to well that fire worked both ways, and that though it would make it hotter inside the ring it would also keep the snakes at bay long enough for her to complete her Jutsu.

'_Ram'_ She drew a single hand up, the other remained fisted in Kemuri's mane but with fingers crossed for good luck. Sakura was still just a child, after all. She quickly bowed her head, her outstretched pointer and middle fingers almost touching her lips while the rest of her hand remained fisted. Only a single hand was required to do this move, but you took double the risk of failing it if you tried.

But you'll never know unless you try.

"Now! Shōton: Kesshō Gokakurō!"

The ground shook, and chakra crystals leapt from the earth as if they had a mind of their own, each enormous shard finding its way toward a snake with cavernous holes like gaping mouths laying in wait. A great rumbling sounded, and when the dust settled, Sakura saw that not one pillar of Nephite jade missed its target. Not one serpent escaped its crystalline prison.

The young genin stared, wide-eyed for a moment almost as if she could not quite comprehend what had just happened, or rather how such an impromptu attack had worked. But, it had and no sooner had Sakura felt an almost overwhelming euphoria fill her, then her mouth broke out into a huge, brighter than the sun grin, and despite her better conscious – she let out a loud cheer.

"Sakura Haruno Mitarashi, what the hell was that?"

Oh but of course all good things must come to an end right?

The pinkette immediately stiffened – much to the newcomers chagrin – and silently gulped before adopting a pose not unlike her very good (blond) friends_ 'I'm guilty and I know it'_ one and turning back around to face the proper direction on her Nin-horse.

Who was poorly hiding his amusement with the whole situation, and promptly received a kick to the gut from his passenger.

"Hey Anko-Nee, so I was just… um… How much of that did you see?" Her sheepish grin said it all; the oddly familiar sense of _'oh crap'_ was rapidly growing in the pit of her stomach. Hm, to run or not to run?

The Tokubetsu Jōnin flashed her a smirk that sent shivers down the young girls spine, before announcing in a sickly sweet tone "Eh, I saw enough to know that somebody was using techniques that sure as hell were not academy level." Anko was suddenly in front of her, leaning down at eye level. "Care to explain why that is, ne?"

Sakura gulped. And, oh boy, oh boy was she going to be in a lot of trouble when all this was said and done. But she was not about to be intimidated so easily; and so after shoving down that horrible, gnawing monster in the pit of her stomach, she jerked her head up and faced the special Jōnin with fiery green eyes.

"But they are academy level techniques Anko-Nee." She rolled her eyes as nonchalantly as she possibly could, but not too much because that would be suspicious. Right? "Jeez, where have you been?"

Somewhere inside the dimensions of her mind, her Inner-Self had face palmed comically. **"Oi, Saku…"** the alternate ego groaned, hiding her shame behind her hands.

"You are a horrible liar missy." Sakura slumped, feigning a dejected look at the words of her precious (sort of) older sister whose hair reminded her of the wisteria tree that grew outside her bedroom window. "But…"

* * *

"But…" Anko smiled as she watched the young genin's expressions change like the colors of a rainbow, as they so comically did. Yes, yes, she supposed she should be scolding the petal-haired girl for using techniques that were so obviously not genin level, and perhaps for being an absolutely horrible liar, but where was the fun in that? Easy, there was none.

She reached out a hand, and ruffled her little sister's hair affectionately. "Maybe I can let it slide just this once. Since when were you able to perform the Kesshō Gokakurō, huh? I swear, wasn't it just a week ago that I left and you were mastering the Rokkaku Shuriken?"

Her lilac eyes danced as she watched Sakura's face contort into a snarling pout, her little hands darting up to wrestle her own larger ones away from the coral colored locks. "Anko-Nee!" she whined, crossing her arms over her chest. "First of all it was a month ago that I learned the Rokkaku Shuriken, and second of all Kemuri and I have been working really hard on the Kesshō Gokakurō together."

Anko smirked, "Oh so Kemuri knows how to do it too now does he?" that elected a particularly nasty snort from the Nin-horse, but she paid him no mind other than an outturned tongue.

"Argh! You know what I meant!" the little genin fussed, much to her amusement. Suddenly Sakura adopted a suspiciously smug expression that was polar opposite from her previous one. She really had to get the girl checked at the doctors. "Oh, and you owe me some dango, Anko-Nee."

Her head snapped up, and immediately she arrived upon one conclusion. There was only one, possible way that she – Anko Mitarashi the amazing – would make a bet with the little devil otherwise known as Sakura. For dango much less.

She must've been drunk.

She quickly eyed the pinkette suspiciously, "Alright, c'mon now Sakura you know better than to take advantage of me while I'm drunk." Her eyes gazed disapprovingly upon Sakura. Hadn't she taught her better than that?

Just as the jade-eyed genin was opening her mouth to reply; a sudden noise that sounded like some grotesque hybrid between what one would make when fake gagging, and a squeal interrupted. All eyes were instantly on the Nin-horse who had adopted a quite comical expression – raccoon-masked face all screwed up and tongue sticking out like he had just tasted something utterly vile.

It made Anko wonder – where the hell did Sakura pick that guy up?

"Oi Anko-" He groaned, eyebrows – scratch that – singular, visible brow raising in such a way that she knew he was about to show his- "That sounded so… Wrong." Perverted side.

The Jōnin resisted the urge to scratch her head in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about Kemuri?" Sakura asked placing her tiny hands on her hips and giving him the look from above – not that he could see it. Anko nodded, _That's what I'd like to know_.

The large, sepia eyes of the nin-horse danced between the two of them, pink to purple, purple to pink, and back again. Before lowering his champagne shaded head in a dejected sort of manner and muttering, "Ugh, you know. Anko, last I checked little academy ninja like Sakura-" at this he promptly received his second kick to the gut for the day, courtesy of his passenger. "-Don't jump specialized ninja like you, even when you're drunk."

Jade and Lilac eyes were dry with anticlimactic letdown as they stared - no scratch that - glared at the champagne colored nin-horse. Anko face-palmed, wiping her hand slowly down her features as if to drag the disappointed expression from her face. "Don't you two have somewhere you need to be?" she drawled, arms crossing with an indignant huff towards her little sibling/apprentice/friend.

Sakura's face suddenly took on a look of panic, "Eh! Oh my gosh, yes! We're gonna be late for the Academy!" She cried, quickly scrambling to grab a clump of the equine's inky black mane who – sharing similar thoughts as Anko herself – snorted in amusement of the girl's sudden hysteria. The pink-haired '_day one genin'_ threw a glance back at her, smiling before she called out, "Sorry Anko-Nee, I got to go alright? Bye!"

And as quick as she had come, the girl was gone.

* * *

"I can't believe I lost track of time like that! I mean, of all days to be late it had to be today." The pink-haired genin whined, her limbs flailing wildly in an attempt to emphasize her momentary hysteria before assuming a dejected look, slouching upon the back of her ever-faithful steed. Said steed, only rolled his eyes, and continued leisurely trotting down the bustling streets of Konoha, looking as though he had all the time in the world.

Sakura huffed, the occasional twitch of her brow, and the air of annoyance that followed her around like a storm cloud doing nothing to better her mood as she watched the horse. Who so carefully avoided the many, rambunctious children that would occasionally dart across the street, giving not even a moments notice as to when they were going to do so.

"Ohayo Sakura-Chan!"

And suddenly, both she and her mood had done a complete 180 turn, in company of her nin-horse of course, and was now backtracking towards one of the many simple street vendor's. All sense of time and the urgency to keep it had flown out the window the moment she had heard his voice.

Said street vendor, a variety of glass goods decorating the front of his stall, waved at her animatedly. His old, prune-ish face wrinkled into a kind, old smile as he stepped out from behind the counter, absentmindedly wiping his hands with a dirtied old cloth before he approached both horse and rider.

Sakura smiled brightly, "Ohayo Masa-San!" she chirped, as she secretly peeked over his shoulder, trying to get a better look at the various glittering wares that decorated the inside of the stand.

Only Kemuri's snort and the strangely effervescent rumble of the old mans laugh drew her attention back. "So, how are we doing today huh, Sakura-Chan?" He asked, pale brown eyes twinkling with the kind of mirth she supposed that only an old man could find in a situation like this.

"I'm doing well, Masa-San." She replied, stealing a glance over his shoulder again before, true to her polite nature, she added. "How about you? Doing well?"

The old man only chortled again in response, wrinkly cheeks stained pink with laughter as he waved her off. "Oh, good, good, of course Sakura-chan." His ancient, tea-shaded eyes twinkled as they landed just above her forehead. "Ah, Congratulations little one." His hand rose with surprising steadiness, spider-veins and all to point at her headband. "You certainly deserved it. After all, you are the youngest of your class to graduate, neh?"

The young genin blushed, eyes straying first to her scarred forearm and then to her fiddling hands before she answered. "Please Masa-San, it was nothing-"

Suddenly the timely street vendor chuckled again, and Sakura looked down to see that Kemuri had stolen the tattered rag hanging from his belt, and begun to wave it around. She rolled her eyes and inwardly sighed, '_attention hogging-ass…'_

"Oh, forgive me Kemuri-chan. I seem to have forgotten something." Masa rasped, his hand disappeared inside a pocket on his work apron momentarily before returning, a shiny, red apple in tow.

Kemuri dropped the rag faster than one would a bad boyfriend, his sepia eyes lighting up as he nodded his head toward the fruit with such gusto one would not think it possible of a horse. Completely disregarding the fact that he was no ordinary horse, and that this particular horse could talk and hold quite lengthy conversations. Now the real issue here was figuring out how to get him to shut up.

Sakura sighed, her eyes rolling in a similar manner to one who was watching two toddlers fight over a scrap of paper or something else. But how could she not? To her Kemuri would always be like one, giant, ten-foot tall kid at heart.

"-eading before this?" Her head snapped back, jade eyes widening as she barely caught the tail end of the old man's sentence.

Her Inner-Self, timely as ever piped up. "**He was talking to us you space case**!" she snapped, waving her fictitious limbs about as if someone other than Sakura could see them. **"Show the old man an ounce of respect and answer the damn question!"**

The pink-haired genin bit her tongue and resisted the urge to pummel her Inner, for multiple reasons. The most prominent being that she would be armed only with the knowledge that putting oneself in a chokehold in the bustling streets of Konoha's market on a Thursday morning was not in fact something normal people did.

So instead she opted for returning to planet earth, though not before brushing a stray strand of pink hair behind her ear she asked, "Gomen nasai, Masa-San. Could you please repeat that?" her cheeks tinted pink with embarrassment as she waited for his response.

"Not a problem. I was just wondering where it was you were headed to before you stopped here, Sakura-Chan?" he asked, tilting his head so that the few, wispy, graying hairs that still remained did a little jig of sorts.

Sakura opened her mouth to reply, but stumbled on her words for a moment as her jaw hung slack. A good question. Where exactly was it that she was headed again?

Her other self side suddenly snickered, sending the jade-eyed girl into a momentary tizzy as the memory she so desperately sought eluded her. **"Geez, so now we're schizophrenic**_** and**_** developing a case of Alzheimer's. Kami, get a grip would ya' Outer-Chan?"** Her Inner taunted, before sighing at the lack of reaction from her counterpart. **"For the love of… We were headed to**-**"**

"The Academy! Shoot!"

* * *

"What in the name of Sarutobi's pants happened here?"

Sakura's jade eyes grew wide with a concoction of amusement, confusion, and a few other things as they took in the utter chaos that she assumed once was her academy classroom. In the muddle of confusion her strapping Chunin sensei seemed to be supsiciously absent, but of course that was to be expected. Iruka-Sensei would never let the classroom get _this_ out of hand. Though, there was that one time…

Her gaze drifted from the mob of savage, swarming fan girls at the center of the room to the door and back again as she contemplated the necessaery escape route should the herd of fan girls decide to stampede. She shivered, and upon closer inspection discovered sprigs of blond and raven to be at the center of the swarm.

Her Inner-self sweatdropped comically. _Sasuke and Naruto._ She thought, a slightly amused grin stretching her lips as she did, _Why am I not surprised?_ The young Genin chuckled girlishly under her breath as she mulled over the possible scenarios that could have resulted in well, that.

"**Don't even bother trying to figure that out, it's impossible." **Her Inner huffed, crossing her fictatious arms in a display of annoyance as if someone other than her Outer could see it. **"They're Sasuke and Naruto. They could be fighting over who gets to clean the blackboard for all they care."** Sakura hummed in agreement with her Inner's words. She knew the two well enough, she supposed. One, because he had been her first (human) friend since she had arrived in Konoha, and the other because at one point she had enough air in her head to actually be infatuated with him.

Sakura only just managed to fight back the oncoming shiver at those memories. That had been the most unfortunate time in her life, when she too had swooned like a blond airhead after Sasuke. Only the face slapping, reality-inducing words of wisdom provided by her Inner-self snapped her out of the allusion that Sasuke was worth her time pursuing. It was all just a bad joke now, one she was sure Naruto was never going to let her live down.

She snorted, sure he was cute- that was something she could not deny- but any visual appeal he had was mercillesly crushed under that _"greater than thou"_ attitude that followed him around like bad B.O.

And Naruto? Naruto on the other hand, was a very different story. A story that Sakura herself wasn't quite willing to reminisce on yet. At least before eight o' clock in the morning. So many cups of ramen…

She shook her head slowly, either out of despair or hilarity before turning her gaze towards her companion, who was at the moment lounging lazily in his seat, head lolled back over the wooden frame and hands clasped neatly in his lap. Strange, somehow that last part was neither surprising nor un-ordinary.

"Uh, Shikamaru?" The boy grunted primitively in response, but otherwise gave her no reason to believe that he had heard her inquiry. "Care to explain what –" her thumb and forefinger attack his forehead, thumping it _'playfully'_. "-The heck is going on here?"

A charcoal colored eye revealed itself, obviously unhappy with being disturbed. "How should I know, huh Sakura?" He groaned, eyelid slowly drooping to shelter the tired orb once more.

But she was a relentless one of course.

The pinkette rolled her jade eyes at her friend's enthusiasm - Note the sarcasm – or lack there of. Before promptly attacking him again, only this time – ninja till the very end -she changed tactics.

"_Ai!" _Sakura erupted into a fit of laughter as she watched Shikamaru literally jump out of his seat, after the proper poke to the stomach of course. The Nara groaned, a slight pout dawned upon his face as he began muttering incoherently under his breath whilst he rubbed his sore rib.

"By the way Shikamaru, the sloth called, and he wants his personality back." She teased, gently hopping up onto the desk just next to where he sat. Iruka obviously wasn't coming anytime soon. "C'mon Shika, we're gonna get our Genin teams today, try to at least pretend to be excited would ya?"

The Nara smirked lightly; sometimes his little pink-haired friend was just too easy to rile up. Meh, who was he to complain about a job made easier? Good for him, not so good for her. He closed his eyes and with one final sigh leaned back in his seat again. Set the trap, load the bait, sit back and watch the magic happen,"Nah, that'd be much to troublesome." He muttered, just loud enough so his easily riled companion could hear it.

And just as he predicted she would, Sakura took the bait. Okay, more like mauled it.

Sakura felt her hackles rise and despite her better conscience, her lips pulled back into a feral snarl that could put an Inuzuka to shame. She knew he was baiting her, but she also knew that if she let him get away with calling her troublesome once… She growled, the sound low and gutteral before locking her aggressive jade eyes onto his. "What was that you lazy, son of a-"

_**Aaaaaaaa!**_

The shrill, ear-popping screech of at least twenty fan-girls screaming in unison stopped Sakura dead in her tracks, and caused everyone else in the room to simaltaneously experience their first heart attacks in the ninja career. Sakura, ears still ringing painfully, turned around to see what could have possibly caused such a terrible, _'ohmigod somebody better be dying'_ scream.

They were kissing.

Her jade eyes felt seconds away from bulging out of her sockets. Sasuke and Naruto were kissing- well, now they were both respectivley wiping their mouths in a fit of hysterics – but the point is that they were kissing!

She sweatdropped inwardly _I'm not quite sure how to respond to this._ She whispered to her Inner.

Her Inner-Self's sadistic cackling answered her. **"I do, it's fucking hilarious! Quick, somebody get a picture or something!"**

"Sakura!"

Her head jerked back, jade eyes snapping wide open in surprise to see none other than Iruka-Sensei giving her the look of death. She gulped, and unconsciously shrunk back further into her seat, absentmindedly noting Kiba's not so silent snickering from the seat next to her.

"H-hai, Iruka-Sensei?" she squeaked, not liking the glare that seemed to burn holes through her head.

Even her Inner seemed to cower a bit, **"Crap, when the hell did he get here?"** she mumbled, sweat dropping at her teacher's never-ending look of death.

_I don't know! I was trying not to watch my best friend make out with Sasuke! What the heck were you doing?_ Sakura growled inwardly, only to be answered with silence. She huffed_, Ya that's what I thought you said._

"Some of us would like to know who their teamates are, you know, just saying." Iruka said, smiling ever so slightly in a _'your forgiven with embarassment' _way.

"Alright continuing on, Team 5 will consist of Ame-"

Sakura immediately tuned out, cheeks still flushed with embarassment as she pouted silently. "Last day with you Academy teacher. Piss him off, fantastic." She muttered, huffing under her breath as she tried to ignore Kiba's incessent snorting from beside her.

"Team 7, Mitarashi Haruno Sakura -"

"**Hey! That's our name!"** Her Inner cried, as Sakura's attention peaked at the sound of her name and she sat just a little straighter in her chair. **"Wait, I hate the number seven."**

_Shut up Inner!_

"- Uzamaki Naruto." At that her boisterous blond friend rocketed out of his seat to perform what could only be called a happy dance. She smiled.

"And Uchiha Sasuke."

She swore her jaw hit the ground. "Shit."

* * *

Fin!

So what did you think? Please R&R! I'll try to update once a week but it's rare when I don't have a writers block so, ya. Sorry for the grammar mistakes, all my stories are non beta-ed so, yah. Most importantly remember to FAVORITE, READ, FOLLOW, AND **REVIEW!**

Target word count: 5,000 words

Total Word count: 6,500 words

Japanese-ey Translations!

勇気 （ゆうき）＝ Yuuki = Courage

始める (はじめる)＝ Hajimeru = Begin

けむり= Kemuri= Smoke

平和 = Peace

Kesshō Gokakurō = Crystal pentagon prison

Rokkaku Shuriken = Crystal Shuriken

Until next time!

-Find-A-Way-Today.


	3. Chapter 2

Hello Readers!

It's me again, and first off I'd like to say thank you to the three who reviewed my 1st, painfully long chapter. Thank you too…

JohnnyLove – Thanks! And here is the next chapter!

ABCMECBA – glad to hear it! Here is the 'more' you were asking for.

And finally, a huge thanks to…

asredwer – Thank you so much for the in-depth review! Ya, I am a total horse person so I had to find a way to incorporate them into the story. Kemuri is two years in the making and I have painfully plotted out every detail of their breed. PM me if you want the detailed description.

Anyway, without further adeu this is chaptertwo!

P.S. I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Chapter two

~Late~

"Better late than never."

Three long, grueling, tormentingly hellish, hours, eleven agonizingly painfully minutes, and thirty-three – no wait, thirty-four seconds.

And she was still sitting in absolute, life sucking silence.

The last of her recently dubbed Genin teamates had left ages ago – she had stopped counting after two hours of solitude – and Iruka not long afterwards. Now, typically Sakura would've been perfectly okay with waiting a bit longer for her Jōnin Sensei; after all living with a Tokubetsu Jōnin for the last three years of her life had shown her just how unpredictable their jobs were. But having her teeth pulled out was starting to sound better than having to sit through this silence for God knows how long.

Why? Simple, because the two other occupants in the room seemed to only be capable of co-existing in deafining silence, and Sakura didn't want to push it for fear of all hell breaking loose. Even though they had only been a team for scarcely three hours, the pink haired Genin could tell Sasuke and Naruto were like ticking time bombs.

And so all Sakura could think was, _"W__here in the name of Sarutobi's pants is our freaking J__ōnin Sensei?"_

The pinkette silently fumed, as her fingers silently grappled with one another so she would not to start rapping them in an effort to fill the silence_. "I mean seriously, is this guy even coming or what? Cause' if I don't see him in the next five minutes then I'm gonna-"_

"**Patience, young ninja. Is endurance not one of the great valued ninja traits, hm?" **

Sakura seethed, and despite her frustration she somehow resisted the urge to hiss out loud. _"Cork it Inner!"_ she snarled inwardly, because God knows she did **not** have the patience for this today. Not for late teachers, or socially impossible teamates, and certainly not for sassy little voices in her head.

In her haste, Sakura's itchy fingers had found their way to the scar on her left forearm and had wasted no time in busying themselves by tracing the damaged skin with fevor. It was a nervous habit she had picked up just days after arrriving in Konoha, and only hours after the medic's had healed the origonal burn. _'Don't touch it.' _They had said, but Sakura had and the skin was sensitive ever since.

Her Inner snorted back at her. **"Well sorry for saying something Miss **_**'I can't stand the silence'.**_**" **Her Inner's toungue was as sharp as ever, and her mouth never missed a beat of course. The only thing even slightly more annoying than her was the hellish pitch of a bird whistling blocks away, which drew her attention, back to planet earth. Sakura winced, her virgin ears not used to such… noise.

Sakura groaned, and quickly buried her face into her arms. Maybe she was just imagining it but was that her non-existant heartbeat pounding in her ears? Yes, no? _"Maybe I'm just going crazy – don't respond to that Inner." _A labored sigh escaped her lips. _"I mean, come on. Sasuke I can understand, you'd be lucky if you could get two words out of the guy on a good day, but Naruto? How does Naruto stay so quiet?"_

Sakura drew her head up and out of it's dark retreat, and turned to look at the yellow hairball complete with impossibly obnoxious orange jumpsuit that sat – correction - slept next to her. _"Figures."_ She huffed inwardly, her tone lighthearted and affectionate. _"He's sleeping. Well I guess he took my advice and got his snoring problem fixed. Finally. Though I think I'd best wake him up now." _A wicked grin hinted at the edge of her lips. _"Then I won't have to suffer the silence alone! Yay!"_

She leaned over, and gently shook the snoozing orange lump otherwise known as her friend. "Naruto! Hey Naruto, get up!" She whispered, her voice just a tiny bit hoarse from neglect.

Getting Naruto up first try? Hah, didn't think so. Not when his ramen levels were probably edging dangerously near empty.

Naruto simply rolled his head the other direction, and continued to snooze. Sakura tried again, this time she shook him with just a bit more fevor. "Naruto, C'mon sleepyhead wake up!" his hand flailed about on autopilot in a sad attempt to swat her pesky appendage away from him.

A tick mark formed above her twitching brow. Hey! There went her patience, right out the window.

"Naruto!" Sakura barked, her eyes practically shooting fire as she quickly hooked her foot around the edge of his chair and pulled it out from underneath the slumbering blond. "Get up you lazy ass!"

***Thunk***

"Hu-uh, wha-? Sakura-Chan?" He whined, rubbing his sore bottom in the haze of sleep. "That hurt, Dattebayo!" His cobalt eyes sparkled with the promise of unshed tears as his lip trembled.

Sakura huffed, and crossed her arms as an affectionate smirk (if there was such a thing) drew upon her face. "Don't you Sakura-Chan me mister! That serves you right for sleeping on the job! What kind of ninja are you, huh?" he pouted in response.

"Maa, but Sakura-Chan! Sensei is not even here yet and it's been-" he squinted at the clock, his eyebrows furrowed with concentration, "-uh"

"Three hours and twenty-one minutes"

"Ya! Three hours and twenty- Nani?" Naruto's jaw dropped for a moment and he furiosly rubbed his eyes clear of sleep before determination set in. "Where the heck is this guy huh?" he scowled.

"That's what I'd like to know." Sakura sighed.

The flambouyant blond shot to his feet, narrowly missing the desk as he strutted off to who knows where with a declaration of "I'm gonna set this guy straight Sakura-Chan, just you wait!"

Sakura couldn't help but giggle and roll her eyes at her undeniably blond friend, who ironically seemed to be the best way to pass her time in this godforsaken room. Minus falling into a boredom –induced coma of course. _"Is that even possible?"_ she wondered thoughtfully for a moment.

Her Inner-Self scowled, **"Of course not you idiot. You can only fall into a coma from being excessivly injured, or from gorging yourself to-"**

"Hn, annoying."

Sakura froze, her body rigid and straight as a pole when she suddenly remembered it wasn't just Naruto and herself in the room. Her momentary surprise was quickly replaced with irritation as she twisted around to lock eyes with one very unamused and stoic Sasuke Uchiha.

Her hackles rose a bit and Sakura snorted in response to his attitude. **"Could you please tell him to do us all a favor and pull that stick out of his ass!" **Her Inner huffed, crossing her fictatious arms.

Okay, that was a bit far even for Inner, but still her obnoxious conterpart had a point. What was this guy's problem? More importantly, how on earth had she ever thought that he was attractive? (Personality wise, of course.)

Sakura narrowed her piercing jade eyes and sent him her best glare, along with a nice snarl and a quick flash of canines that could give Kiba's a run for their money. "Care to point out what exactly is annoying, Uchiha? Because as of late the only _'annoying' _thing here is your attitude!" she barked, smugly satisfied with her ability to summon up a good comeback for once._ "And maybe your hair."_

His kohl eyes widened a near microscopic amount, but it was enough for Sakura to claim temporary victory. "Hn."

Her head swiveled back around almost fast enough to threaten whiplash. "What was that?" she asked.

She swore she saw the corner of his mouth tilt into a smirk. "Hn." He drawled, holding the _'n'_ for a smidgen longer than before. Cocky, egotsistical-

"What does that even mean anyway, huh?" she suddenly asked, all the anger gone and replaced with curiosity. It was actually quite funny now that she thought about it. The great Sasuke Uchiha whose fan club consisted of the greater part of females ages five and up had an extensive vocabulary of four words and three phrases at best. 'Hn.', 'Aa.' And 'you're/that's/it's annoying' had to be the only things she'd ever heard him say.

Her little grudge match was suddenly interrupted when Naruto stormed back from who knows where with a ladder, an extra chalky chalkduster in hand, and a devious smirk on his face.

"Hn, dobe."

Correction, make that an impressive dictionary of five words! Sakura snorted into her palm at the thought, before directing her gaze up at Naruto who had propped the ladder up right next to the door.

"Uh, Naruto, just out of curiosity what exactly are you doing up there?" she asked, her interest peaked in spite of herself.

He managed to wrestle the door open a few inches from his perch before grinning wolfishly at her with whiskered cheeks. " I'm gonna teach this guy a lesson for being late Dattebayo!" he proclaimed in a self-righteous manner that almost made Sakura believe pranking could be borderline chivlarous.

Sasuke huffed from beside her. "Hn, dobe. That's not going to work." He grunted glaring critically at the boy clad in orange.

"Heck yes it will! You just watch Teme, he's gonna walk in through that door-" at this he balanced the ghostly eraser between the top of the door and it's frame. "- And when he does, wham! That eraser will fall right on him and he'll get what's coming to him Dattebayo!"

Her Inner hummed appreciativley, **"Wow, I'm impressed actually. That's a pretty elaborate plan in terms of Naruto standards."**

Sakura growled, _"Inner! If you don't have anything nice to say about him than you can just shut your yap got it? At least he's trying! And plus, I think it's kinda cute."_ Her Inner merely stuck her toungue out as a last act of defience before slinking off to sulk in a corner of her mind.

The pink haired Genin huffed before turning her eyes back toward Naruto, who was sporting a wicked grin and couldn't seem happier with himself as he trotted back to her side. Sasuke only huffed lightly under his breath, and glared at the foxy blond for a moment. "Naruto, you know Kemuri is gonna give us hell when this is all over right?"

The boy only grinned more (if that was even possible) before leaning back in his seat and putting both arms behind his head. Classic Naruto. "Nah, when that ass see's how ingenous my plan was and he'll be begging to know my secrets by the end of the day." Sakura snorted, as if.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Che, dobe that is not going to work." he said, well sneered. The hair on the back of her neck prickled as she saw Naruto immediately rise to the challenge, or maybe it was something else. "Our Sensei is Jōnin level, do you honestly think he would fall for something like that?"

***Clunk***

Sakura snapped her head around to the doorway, viridian eyes wide with a concoction of merriment and disbelief. It was his chakra signature that had made her hair stand on end, not Naruto's gullibility, thank Kami. _"No way…"_

Naruto: 1 ; Sensei: absolutley fricking nothing

There standing in the doorway – looking like he had been the subject of a snowball fight- was a man, who – going by her fantastic luck (note the sarcasm)- was undoubtly her Jōnin Sensei. And he, for lack of a better word did not look amused. Not that she could see much of his expression when his Hitae ate' was draped over his left eye, and a mask covered his mouth.

And _OhMyGod_. Was that porn in his hand?

Sakura quickly slapped a hand over her mouth in an effort to muffle any traitorous giggles and – _"Damnit stop laughing Inner!" _as the man with gravity-defying silver hair stood in the doorway.

Naruto on the other hand had no such self-control and she could easily feel just as well as she could her him laughing his ass off from beside her. A heavy thunk sounded to her left and Sakura swore she saw Sasuke's head hit the table in a glorified heap of black, spiky locks.

The Jōnin cleared his throat and Sakura immediately locked eyes with his – single eye? – As he spoke. "My first impression of you all is that I hate you. Meet me on the roof, pronto."

***Thwack! ***

"Ouch! Sakura-Chan that hurt Dattebayo!"

* * *

Well this was just absolutley fucking fantastic. She had already managed to piss off the man who would essentially hold her life in his hands, and she hadn't even known him for a full five minutes yet. Well, actually Naruto pissed him off but technicalities aside, not the best way to start off the rest of her (undoubtly short) life.

Sakura growled incoherently under her breath, and wiggled slightly from her spot wedged in between her two teamates. It also didn't help that she was dead in front of her sensei, who was at the moment giving her the ultimate, one-eyed look of death.

"**Devils spawn."** Her Inner mutterd, glowering at him from behind hooded lids.

The man she had come to know as Kakashi-Sensei suddenly clapped his hands together, and what she could only guess was a smile stretched underneath his masked face. Why the mask again? "Alright kiddies, since we're all going to be a team why don't we get to know each other a bit." His lone eye uncrinckled and zero-ed in on Naruto. "So how about we introduce ourselves, you know; likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, goals, that kind of stuff. Blondie, why don't you start us off?"

Naruto shot to his feet, knocking her off the railing and into Sasuke. "Why don't you start us off huh Old man?" he cried, pointing an accusing digit in the Jōnin's face. "Give us an example Dattebayo!"

Sakura quickly scrambled out of Sasuke's lap - conviently managing to grind the heel of her ninja sandal into his thigh as she did – just in time to see Kakashi casually slap the finger away before sighing.

"Alright, alright. You win, I'll go first." He said, but the underlying tone was suspiciously condescending. "My name is Kakashi-Sensie, my likes and dislikes are my own, my hobbies are none of your concern, and my dreams and goals are for me to know, and, well for you to never find out."

Sakura felt her eye begin twitching madly for the second time that day. _'All we learned was your name. Che, some ninja.'_ A quick glance at Sasuke told her he was as equally unimpressed as she was.

Of course Naruto, never one to keep his thoughts to himself suddenly shouted, "Hey! Wait a second all we learned was your name!"

Kakashi merely shrugged before patting Naruto on the head, much to the boy's obvious chagrin. "Oh well, maybe next time. Now go!"

Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she turned to watch Naruto. In a way she was actually interested in what he would say, and how much of it would match up with what she knew about her boisterous friend of three years.

"Alright!" he shouted, cobalt eyes sparkling as he prepared his '_speech'_. "My names Naruto Uzamaki, Dattebayo! I like Instant Ramen, and playing with Sakura-Chan and Kemuri, and I like it when Iruka Sensei takes me to Ichiraku's. But, I can't decide which is better because Instant Ramen is ready really fast, but Ichiraku's tastes better and-"

Sakura sighed, "Naruto, focus." She hummed, eyes fluttering shut as she continued to listen.

Naruto laughed sheepishly before continuing on, unperturbed. "-Oh, ya. Well, I dislike the three minutes it takes to cook Instant Ramen; I also dislike it when I lose ramen eating contests with Kemuri. I really dislike the bastard over there." At that point Naruto shot his best, eyes of death glare at Sasuke, who happily returned the favor. " My hobbies? Well I guess pranking- oh ya that's the best! – And maybe going out to ride with Sakura-Chan and Kemuri. My dream is to become the Hokage and make the whole villiage recognize and respect me for who I am! Dattebayo!"

Sakura opened her eyes, her viridian orbs trailing lazily up to where Naruto was now perched upon the railing. It was a very heroic pose she'd give him that, but not the right time for it. "Naruto you said 'believe it!' twice you know that right?" she asked, eyeing him as he slouched for a moment but made a quick recovery.

"Yah, I meant to do that Sakura-Chan! Dattebayo!"

"I think we get the point Naruto." Sakura turned to look at her Sensei who, seemed to be having a hard time taking it all in.

He quickly shook his head before turning to not her, but Sasuke. **"Playing favorites are we? Oh I see how it is."** Her Inner muttered, scowling once again at Kakashi. **"Two can play at that game mister."**

"_Inner would you hush up already!"_ and with that Sakura shoved her Inner into the deepest, darkest corner of her mind in hopes she wouldn't venture out until – well never if she was lucky..

She returned to planet earth just intime to see Kakashi eyeing Sasuke, "Alright, very good Naruto. Now, you-" a finger was pointed at Sasuke. "-Dark and broody, go!"

Sakura snorted at Kakashi's near perfect description of her Uchiha teammate as he scoffed. "My likes and dislikes are not of your concern, my hobbies include training, and I don't have a dream for those who dream are too weak to accomplish. But I do have an ambition, to kill a certain someone and restore my clan."

Sakura swore that for a moment someone had conjured up an organ and begun to play it, but she quickly chalked that up to be her Inner messing with her. Though what Sasuke had said didn't surprise her and also dissapointed her – he was going to be one tough cookie to crack if they were going to have to work as a team. He also, just by those words, didn't seem to care much for the hidden meaning of things, and Sakura was all about the hidden messages in life. Fantastic! More work for her!

Sakura was quickly overcome with the strongest urge to facepalm, and, somehow managed to choke it down fast enough to resist the urge. A quick glance at the rest of her team and – wait, what was wrong with Naruto's face?

* * *

Naruot gulped nervously, and quickly wiped the back of his hand across a sweaty brow. _"I hope he wasn't talking about me!"_

* * *

Troublesome.

Kakashi reached up and scratched his mop of silver –_ gray _– hair before coughing lightly. "Interesting, Sasuke." He drawled, before his eye drifted over to her viridian ones. "Now you, pinky."

Sakura immediately growled and felt her hackles rise, making sure to give this _'Kakashi'_ and eyeful of the same canines Sasuke saw earlier. "The names Sakura, Sa-ku-ra, not pinky. Ya got that buster?" she growled, taking what she assumed to be an amused smirk under that blasted mask as a yes.

"Anyway, I like Dango and Tempura, playing shogi with Shikamaru, and hanging out with Naru-Chan" at this he fiercly, protested the nickname. "I like Kemuri and my Nii-Chan, I dislike those who judge a book by its cover." Her she made a point to glare at her new Sensie. "I also dislike those who take what they have for granted, and those who try too hard to be perfect. My Hobbies include watching the stars with Kemuri, reading the scrolls my Nii-Chan give me, and training. My dream? Well I have a couple, but I want to grow strong and help the ones I love as well, and maybe along the way find out a little more about my past and what happened to my family."

"_I want to discover what happened to you Aniki, wherever you are." _She thought. She felt her throat swell with emotion and her eyes begin to sting, but she would not – could not cry. She had never been able to, not once since they had been separated could she shed a tear for her missing brother. _"Because, he's not dead! He's still out there, I know he is!"_ the melancholy quickly lifted from her heart, and she breathed in deeply. He was still out there, searching for her perhaps, and she would find him one day. Of that she was sure.

* * *

Kakashi sighed inwardly, _"I thought that she was supposed to be the normal one?" _he thought, mulling over his cute little students introduction. _"She wasn't listed as living alone on the roster, she even said she has a gaurdian. So what in the name of Sannin is this girl talking about?"_

* * *

With a deep breath in Sakura looked up, only to find the heat fast rising to her cheeks. Worried eyes of cobalt, curious eyes of licorice, and bored eyes of kohl stared down at her, and she gulped fighting back the blush from her cheeks once more. "What? What are you guys staring at?" she barked.

Sasuke _'hn'd_' with dissaproval, as if to say he could not possibly been staring at her, and while Naruto began spewing nonsense again; Kakashi Sensie took up and started talking. "Alright then, now that we've all gotten to know one another, let's meet back here tommorow around six for a survival excersize alright?" he clasped his hands together and stood.

Naruto immediately burst into protest. "Hey wait a second old man!"

"It's Kakashi-Sensei, Naruto."

He sighed dejectedly, "Whatever, but we already did survival excersizes! Tons of them in the academy!" he wailed, his blue eyes fiery.

Sakura sighed, before sending a pointed glare at her friend. "No, Naruto. We-" at this she motioned at first to Sasuke and then to herself. "Did lots of survival excersizes, you were more interested in giving the Hokage monument a make-over. Remember?"

The blond boy jutted out his lower lip, and looked to be preparing for a comeback when Kakashi Sensei suddenly giggled. Like a girl. "He, what you guys did in the academy was nothing. That test you took to pass? Only to weed out the weaklings who weren't even worth the chance of taking the real test." his tone had suddenly taken on a hint of malice, one that made Sakura's hackles rise a bit.

"Wait, so we're not really genin?" Naruto asked, his blue eyes wide with confusion.

"No. Not even close." She could tell he was grinning wickedly under that mask of his. "Of course, when I tell you guys about the real test, your'e gonna freak out."

Sasuke huffed, but obviously wasn't prepared to goad their teacher further, so Sakura – tired of beating around the bush – snorted, and sent a green-eyed glare towards their new teacher. "Shoot. We're big kids, I think we can take it."

Her Inner nearly choked on air. **"What! Are you trying to get us killed?**"

He seemed to eye her curiously for a moment, his single, licorice colored eye sparkled with some untold emotion. It nearly made the urge to squirm and fidget unable to resist, the way she couldn't quite tell exactly what he was thinking. The way she didn't know. "Only sixty percent of academy graduates at best pass this test." Okay, mildly upsetting, but not enough to ruffle her feathers – yet. Although a quick glance at Naruto told her that he, was having other ideas about this impromptu test. "The other forty percent, are sent back to the academy for another year. Only then can they re-take the test to become Genin."

Her eyes narrowed, and in her mind she whispered _"Alright, what's the catch?"._

"But only if their lucky, will they get a second chance to take the test. Slackers and Dead-Last's like that don't deserve second chances, so if you fail…" Here, her Sensei giggled again. "Just save everyone the trouble and don't bother being a ninja anymore."

It was so silent, that for a good minute all she could hear was the early chirping of the dusk-drawn crickets, and Naruto's hyperinflated breathing. Sakura was not easily put off by anything, but she had the art of statistics down to a science, and well, lets just say odds like that made her nervous. What if she misperformed her Jutsu? What if it backfired and hit one of her teamates? What if-

"**Would you cut it out?"** Her Inner barked, interrupting her mind mid-worry. **"Kami, you sound like such a pu-"**

"_Inner."_ She warned, not particulary fond of her other self's vulgar vocabulary.

The fictatious being huffed.**"Fine. Though, you are forgetting who we are now, and that we're not going to be living in the Academy classroom with our noses stuffed in a book. We're ninja now, and that means we need to tell statistics to suck it, and take some chances. Just do what you do when we're training and you'll be fine. Trust your instincts."**

Well, what do ya know? Her Inner was actually usefull for something every once in a while.

Silently, Sakura thanked her Inner for the pep talk and consequently, boost of confidence before she gently nudged Naruto's shoulder with her own, nearly knocking him off the railing. She hadn't even needed to look at his face to know that something like this would bother her blond friend, not that he'd let anyone know it.

She caught the gaze of his cerulean eyes in her own, and smiled re-assuringly to him. The smile, contagious as it was, infected Naruto only it became a huge, borderline shit-eating grin. So, maybe they weren't on the same page after all.

Kakashi coughed, and sent her head snapping back in his direction. "Alright, so meet me at Training Ground 13 at five o' clock sharp tommorow. You twerps will take your final test then to see if you're really fit to be a ninja." He was on his feet in an instant, back turned preparing to walk away. Sakura, not one to be caught off guard, immediately shot to her feet as well, and ended up knocking shoulders with Sasuke and Naruto. Who, apparently also had the same idea.

"Oh, and one more thing." Their Sensie stopped, and glanced back over his shoulder for a moment. "I suggest you guys don't eat breakfest, ya know. Ja ne!" And then, he was gone.

Naruto growled lowly under his breath, "Well what the hell was that about?" he grunted, crossing his arms in a way that almost made Sakura giggle.

"What was what about, Naru-Chan?" she coed, purposefully batting her eyelashes at her suddenly flustered friend.

He stumbled, "I.. Ah.. Well, you see… I'm late for Ramen with Iruka-Sensie!" His sudden exclamation sent Sakura rearing backwards, in one huge, epic flinch. Naruto ran off about twenty feet before stopping, turning around, and tackling her into a monster hug. "G' Night Sakura-Chan! Teme! Dattebayo!" he shouted, before sprinting off in the direction of Ichiraku's.

Sakura, still stiff after Naruto's sudden hug (read: attack) exhaled slowly, blowing one of her stray pink bangs up and out of the way. She peered to her left, just noticing that Sasuke hadn't said a word. Was he always this quiet? "So… Sasuke, uh, why do you think he told us not to eat breakfest?"

His head slowly turned towards her, and he sent her a look that for just a moment, made her feel like she had just asked some incredibly stupid answer. "Hn, what do you think." He said, well more sneered.

She was tempted to growl back, or give him some sass, but instead gave her honest answer to him. "Well, he probably told us that so we wouldn't throw up." She drawled, more or less just speaking what came to mind. "But, if we don't eat there's no way we would be able to function, let alone well enough for a fight." She let her eyes slide back over to Sasuke's for a moment, and was content to see a flicker of acceptance in them. A flicker, a tiny little spark, a short-lived hope appeared in those eyes, but it died earlier than it should have. Clearly, it was not going to be easy to win his trust.

Her Inner snorted, **"Well duh. I mean it's not like his whole clan was massacred and that his own brother was the one to do it right?" **

"_That… was not funny Inner."_ She whispered inwardly, somehow able to ignore the sudden constriction of her throat and the prickle at the back of her eyes.

A chilly breeze blew past, making goosebumps prickle her skin. And in the silence, she absentmindely wondered where her own Nii-Chan was, the Jonin had never been this late to pick her up before.

Another minute passed and still the Uchiha had not left, and she had only just remembered how much she hated awkward silences, so she spoke. "So, I told you what I thought, now why **do** you think he told us that?"

"Hn. He's obviously just trying to fool you, Sukoshi."

The smirk-grin thingy that stretched upon her face was one she couldn't stop, not that she wanted too. Her eyes brightened and her ears perked as she recognized the prestigious drawl of her friend from behind her. Beside her, Sasuke noticeably bristled.

"Oh really, oh wise and all-seeing one? So tell me why would he be trying to fool us?" she replied, fidgeting with the urge to turn around and see the egotsitical brat she called a friend.

"That, Sukoshi, is for me to know and you to find out." Sakura, unable to remain facing away as she was, growled playfully before whirling around and launching towards the location of the voice, arms extended and ready to grab anything in reach.

She missed.

Sakura wheezed once, as the shock from landing not so gracefully on her feet rattled up her spine, before turning and throwing a pout towards her pearly-eyed friend. "Ne, Neji! What was that for huh?" she whined, as annoyingly as she possibly could because she knew that was just the way he liked it.

They Hyuuga smirked from where he stood, which was ironically right where she had been. Next to Sasuke. "Your'e still much too slow Sukoshi." He said, his poker face perfectly on display. He turned slightly to the left, and sent a narrow glare at the boy standing next to him. "Uchiha." He muttered.

Sasuke, gladly returned the favor, and scoffed, turning up his nose at the Hyuuga, "Hn. Hyuuga." And then, before Sakura could even get a word in edgewise, the Uchiha turned and sauntered away in the direction of the housing district.

Sakura slumped dejectedly, before shouting out "Well good night to you too!" she sighed. "I guess."

"**Jackass."** Her other self muttered.

Sakura scowled, "_Inner! He's our teamate, give him a chance!"_

The fictional voice inside her head raised its arms in defeat, **"Geez! I'm just saying he doesn't have to be so rude. Kami know's why your defending him."**

"Hn. That is quite the team you have Sukoshi." Sakura raised her head to look at Neji, who had closed the distance between them during her time in la-la land.

She smiled, "Ya, well. What can I say, I'm stuck with them." She turned towards the boy next to her, his face laced with a faintly expectant smirk as they locked eyes. She kicked a stone with her feet, "So, why are you here Neji?" she murmered, eyes trained on the now-setting sun. A yawn escaped her lips; she hadnt realized how tired she was before.

"Are you not happy with my presence?" he asked; face still as stone as he too directed his opaque gaze towards the horizon.

She grinned like a fox, "Stop talking like you've got lace up your ass Neji. The clan's nowhere around, be sure of that." he shoulders drooped noticeably (about a cm.) and she smiled. "So why are you here?" a sudden thought came to mind. "Is this about-"

"Mitarashi-Sama was sent on a mission around noon, and could not tell you that she would be gone."

Sakura wilted just a tiny bit, she had been looking forward to going home and showing her Nii-Chan her new headband and talking about her team. "Oh." She whispered.

Beside her, Neji smirked. "I'm here, to tell you that you will be staying with us until she returns."

The pink-haired genin all but jumped up and cheered upon the news, "Yes!" she shouted, fist pumping victoriously while Neji watched on, amused. "I love Kaori-Sama's cooking!"

Hyuuga Kaori was the Matriarch of the Hyuuga clan, Hinata's mother, and Neji's aunt. She also, happened to make the best dango on earth and her tempura wasn't too shabby either. Sakura was practically drooling already.

"Come. We don't want to keep the clan waiting." Sakura quickly snapped her jaw shut and whirled around, noticing Neji was already a good twenty feet away.

"Hey!" she called, sprinting to catch up with him. "Wait a second, I promised Kemuri that he could celebrate graduation night with me. Do, do you think the clan will be okay with that?" she asked, albeit somewhat nervously. Sakura knew how strict and prestigious the Hyuuga clan was, and wasn't to keen on doing anything that could be perceived as rude in their presence. And, despite the fact she had been periodically staying with them for the last three years, she still couldn't quite figure out how they felt about her gigantic Nin-Ba.

Neji smiled, if not microscopically because emotions were still hard for him, before speaking. "Of course, Sakura."

She flashed a blinding smile towards her friend, before bringing her fingers to her lips and whistling sharply three times. For a moment nothing happened, and the pair just stood there silently before Sakura smiled deviously. "Bet you can't see him before he gets here." She wagered, eyes flashing towards him in the spirit of competition.

Neji, was not one to back down once his bluff was called, and she knew that. "Hn. Challenge accepted." His lips drew into a thin line and Sakura waited with baited breaht for him to activate the byakugan. Moment's later, the veins sprouted around his eyes and Neji quickly scanned the area for the chakra signatures that only the byakugan could pick up.

Suddenly, his eyes darted to the right and he opened his mouth, but his breath caught. "The-"

"Hiirii!"

The setting sun was lost for a moment behind the massive, rearing body of the Nin-Ba. Though, Sakura was unperturbed, and simply stood her ground and smiled through the dust cloud that had been kicked, and towards the deadly flashing hooves set with Iron. Neji, though not quite so relaxed, reluctantly disengaged his byakugan.

The horse landed with a great 'thud'; the earth trembled and pebbles danced for just a moment after impact, and he snorted through the dust cloud. Sakura smiled, before crossing her arms. "Ne, Kemuri. Your getting rusty, even Neji sensed you!" she said, chastising the horse from where she stood.

Neji kwirked an eyebrow at her, and she smiled sheepishly. Kemuri, nickered and his deep taupe eyes sparkled from behind the winged markings the covered his eyes. "Mah, Mah. Perhaps, but that is for another time." He said, and pawed once for emphasis. "But, a little birdie told me that one Kaori-Sama was making tempura tonight."

Sakura's eyes sparkled as she momentarily fantasized over the promise of the deliscious food, the thought of hot, steaming, fried fish was more than enough to send all other thoughts packing. Especially Kaori-Sama's fish, the woman had hands blessed by the gods! Which, was ironic since she was the matriarch and normally would'nt be allowed near the kitchen.

"Sakura!" Startled, Sakura couldn't help the small jump she made as the call interrupted her train of thoughts. Kemuri lay, legs neatly tucked underneath him upon the ground, a backwards glance that tingled with amusement directed towards her. He chuckled, all horsey-like. "C'mon kiddo. How about you stop fantazing about the food, and get on so we can actually go eat it."

Behind her, she swore she heard Neji snort. She growled half-heartadly, before meandering over to the massive horse, and scrambling up onto his back. She wiggled about on his back for a moment, the cool bite of her forehead protector at her neck made it's self known as she jostled. She paused for a moment, tentativley reaching up to stroke the chilly metal as a grin split upon her face.

Her jade gaze shifted towards the opaque eyes of her friend, and she smiled warmly towards the boy who was two years her senior. "Here." She said, extending a tiny hand towards him. They both knew that Neji required no help mounting the horse, but Sakura knew and understood Neji's need to be invited, to be accepted.

The corner of his mouth twirked, if just a little bit before he nodded and accepted her hand, swinging onto Kemuri's back. He settled comfortably just behind her, and quickly used his chakra to 'stick' himself to the equine's back. And though it was not his first ride Sakura still peeked behind her, and made sure that he was comfortable before squeezing lightly with her legs to urge the horse on.

Kemuri grunted, "Here we go." And then rose, first on his front legs so that he sat like a dog, and then with a final lurch his dappled hind end rose to meet the rest of his body. She could faintly feel the thrum of his massive heart beneath her legs as she squeezed lightly once more, and he walked forward.

* * *

So? How did you guys like it?

If you ever have an idea you wish to incorporate, PM me or review me with it and I'll consider adding it! That includes OC's, story plot ideas, etc.

Target word count: 10,000 words

Total word count: 13,000 words

Ja ne!


	4. Buntai分隊

TATSU

龍

Book One: Embark

* * *

-Chapter three-

Buntai分隊

Squad/Team

* * *

"Regardless of differences, we strive shoulder to shoulder… Teamwork can be summed up in five short words:_ 'We believe in each other.' _" _~Jerry Smith_

* * *

It was official. The morning was evil.

It had no respect for her obvious wishes to sleep, and every day it would rudely awaken her, disturbing the peaceful oblivion that the darkness of her slumber entailed.

Now, the monster known as morning came in many different forms. Today, it just happened to be five foot three, posses a pearlescent gaze, and came in the form of one, Neji Hyūga. And so, Sakura had been exiled from the warm, blissful, enrapturing nothingness of sleep the moment the Shoji screen had '_clicked_' and slid open, allowing the morning's composed and tranquil chakra to suddenly crowd the room.

Sakura groaned, and snuggled further into her futon, determined to return to her sweet slumber at once. Neji, she thought, was obviously having none of that once the subtle padding of his feet on the tatami mats reached her ears. She buried her head into the blush-tinted buckwheat pillow, convinced that said boy was trying to smother her to death with his chakra.

* * *

Neji softly hummed the tune of the previous night's shamisen* performance to himself as he ambled down the dusky hallway of his clan's compound. His destination lie only one room down from his own, which conveniently sat right next to the partition that separated the main building of the branch compound, which housed minors and single members, by sex.

It only made sense that Sakura, after staying so often with them, received a room of her own in the Hyūga compound. Though, she had requested to be placed in the building that housed the branch family, instead of that of the main family, which for someone her age and sex, being a non- Hyūga and all, would've been, traditional.

Neji smirked to himself, remembering her exact explanation as to why she wished to reside with those of the branch family.

* * *

-2 years earlier: Hyūga Clan compound, Konohagakure; 8:00 A.M.-

An eight-year-old Sakura smiled, her rosy cheeks bunching up as she grinned towards the Patriarch of the Hyūga Clan, Hiashi Hyūga. She was perched comfortably upon the tatami mats that lined the floor in the Main branch's meeting room, swaddled in heavy blankets as two maids scrambled to dry her sopping, coral locks. She sneezed, quickly rubbing her raw, red nose with the back of a shivering hand before smiling sheepishly again, the pitter-patter of the April shower outside unnoticed.

The head of the Hyūga clan sighed in front of her, "Sakura-Chan, care to explain what you and Neji-kun were doing out in the rain for three hours?" he eyed her reprovingly.

She shrunk back a bit under his gaze, "I… uh, well you see we were- um, meditating?" she finished with a squeak, large jade eyes trained on his outstretched hand that signaled her to stop.

Hiashi's gaze was borderline affectionate, "Sakura-chan, do not stutter. You must always speak your mind, even if your voice trembles." She sat up straighter. "Never mind that. For now we must discuss where your room is to be. I have arranged for you to sleep in the room across the hall from Hinata-Chan's, and next to Hanabi-Chan's in the Main-"

"Sumimasen Hiashi-Sama, but I'd like my room to be near Neji's!" She blurted out, jade eyes fiery with confidence that aired on the side of defiance. It was silent, and a moment later she stuttered out, "I-if, that's alright with you." She would not forget the manners her recently deceased mother had bestowed upon her. Well, rather the women had beat an air of politeness into her, but that was beside the point.

He eyed her curiously, "And why do you ask for such a thing, Sakura-Chan?" he asked, his voice suddenly neutral as he suspected the answer had something to do with his nephew.

She replied with a grin that could melt even the iciest heart, and giggled. "Because, somebody's got to keep him company. And who better to do that then me! His best friend!"

And from the other side of the Shoji panel, Neji couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face nor the warmth that filled his heart when he heard her answer.

* * *

Neji stopped, sliding the artfully decorated Shoji screen to the left with a _'click'_ before stepping silently into the room. His gaze lingered on the little mountain of Kakebuton comforters that lay huddled in the corner, just under the window. He almost groaned in frustration, how his tiny little friend managed to move not just the comforters, but also the whole freaking futon every night he'd never know.

He smirked, his thought process borderline evil. _"Wakey, wakey Sakura."_ He directed his chakra towards the corner of the room, careful not to let any leak out lest he disturb the other branch members still sleeping in the building.

The mound of blankets moaned, and began to thrash about a bit before a blush-colored pillow obstructed any view he had of Sakura's trademark coral locks. He walked over to her bedside, and crouched down to her level before directing his chakra once again at her.

He had always thought Sakura resembled a bear in the mornings, sans the brown fur and bear-ish looks. Though the teeth and claws, those she most certainly did have. So, it suddenly made sense that one moment he was preparing to tickle her, and the next he was narrowly avoiding a punchy, swat thing that would have surely put him out of commission for quite some time. Had it hit him, but no respectable Hyūga would have allowed for that.

She was glaring at him now, jade eyes still hazy with sleep yet equally intimidating, and here he thought it was cute. "Come, they are preparing breakfast for us as we speak." He said, watching as her ears instantly perked at the thought of food.

Smiling, and content that since food had been mentioned she would not fall back asleep, he turned and made his way over to the ornate, cherry wood chest that sat opposite to her futon. He knelt down, and opened the doors, pulling several articles of neatly folded clothing from its hold before he stood, and brought them to her side.

Neji couldn't help but smile as he laid the clothes down, "A gift from Kaori-Sama. For your graduation yesterday." He watched with amusement as she, fascinated, stroked the silky crimson fabric as if it were a cat. No wonder. The Hyūga clan often, in times of peace, produced their own silk, and were masters in the art of raising silkworms and harvesting their precious product. "Though you fell asleep before she could present it to you." He added.

She groaned and flopped back dramatically onto her buckwheat pillow, pink hair billowing as she murmured something suspiciously along the lines of "So, much, dango." A single, quiet and contented chortle spilled from his lips before Neji could do anything to stop it, and, more so startled at his own behavior than anything else he quickly snapped his jaw shut.

For a moment, Sakura just sat there, staring at him like he had just grown a second head. So, he glared at her with a look that said, _'do not speak of this.'_ She quickly slapped both hands over her mouth, and nodded with a look of barely-restrained glee.

He resisted the urge to groan, if word got out about this she would never let him live it down and-

"Neji, did I just hear you, laugh?" Neji hissed in irritation as both genin quickly turned to see a figure, standing comfortably in the open doorway of her room, his face alight with a smirk.

Beside him, Sakura nodded enthusiastically, hands still shielding the undoubtedly rampant grin on her face from view. Che, the little traitor. The Hyūga in the doorway shook his head, his two wolf tails swung softly with the rhythm.

Hyūga Tokuma chuckled, and Neji could only thank the gods that it was he who had discovered them and not any other Hyūga. "Well good, everyone needs to laugh every once in a while. Even a Hyūga." Tokuma said, shooting them both a smile before he turned to walk off. "Oh, and one more thing." He added, backtracking so Neji could only see his head poking out from behind the rice paper screen. "You-" here he pointed straight at Sakura, who played the part of an oblivious child quite well and gestured to herself. "Yes, you Sakura. Did Kakashi by any chance tell you guys not to eat breakfast today?" Her face fell, and she nodded, as if suddenly remembering she was denied access to life-giving food that morning. Neji glared at Tokuma when he chuckled, "That old pervert." The older Hyūga mumbled before smiling at Sakura, "Don't listen to him alright Sakura-Chan? That old pervert is just messing with you guys, so eat up, but not too much."

Sakura nodded so hard Neji was sure her neck would snap, and Tokuma clapped his hands together, "Good, now that we have an understanding. Get!" he shooed at them both with his hands. "Before you're late to breakfast. Again." He then strolled away in the direction of the Clan's dining hall.

* * *

-Training ground three, Konohagakure: 7:38 A.M.-

Sakura huffed. It was cold – no freezing outside, the ground was covered in frost, her breath froze into little clouds of smoke as it rose, and the only thing she could really feel was Jack Frost attacking her poor, exposed nose. Relentlessly, might she add. She shivered, and pulled her crimson scarf up and over her nose in an attempt to ward off the biting cold. At the moment, the pink haired genin wanted nothing more than to either high tail it back home to her fireplace, or even better, to call Kemuri so he could at least suffer through the cold with her.

_Find your happy place Sakura. _She thought, absentmindedly rubbing her arms through her thin, black sweater. _Okay, okay, warm thoughts. All right, fireplace, hot cocoa… uh, warm blanket, fresh dango, yes. _She shivered. _Damnit! It's not working!_ Her teeth ground against each other and squeaked as she clenched her jaw, desperately trying to rein her anger in. Her willpower was no match for forty-degree weather though, and so, still frustrated and very much cold she snuggled further into her tree, and peeked out from her scarf to see how her teammates were fairing.

Sakura glanced to the left, and eyed the seemingly immobile Naruto that sat next to her and shared the tree with her. She knew that she would regret letting Naruto 'snuggle' up to her, but she was desperate. Upon closer inspection she fought the urge to sweat drop, as it would probably freeze to her face anyhow. _Oh my god, is he sleeping?_ She thought, but didn't bother to dwell on why he wasn't covered in frost like everything else there. _Must be the orange jumpsuit, smart._

Her gaze wandered over to Sasuke, who was leaning against the three stumps in the middle of the training ground, twirling a kunai around his finger. He only wore white training shorts and a blue, high collared top so why wasn't he shivering? She came to the conclusion that he must be toughing it out, and doing a very good job of it. Shortly thereafter, she glared, and cursed his ability to defy the elements and seem perfectly _'chill'_ as her inner would say.

Ironically, her Inner also hadn't said a word to her this morning. Probably gone into hibernation or something, it was so freaking cold.

She sighed, and rubbed her half covered palms together in an effort to restore some feeling to her frozen fingers. Well, at least she had brought her favorite sweater, the black one that had holes for her thumbs and the classically high turtleneck-esque shinobi collar, just how she liked it.

The bulge in her gear pouch reminded her of what she could be doing, and so she grudgingly drew a freezing shuriken from her stash, before sitting back against her tree while envisioning a big, red, bulls-eye on the one opposite from her. She knew that her anger wouldn't solve anything, let alone the weather, and that the only thing she could really do was be productive, (her aim could use a little work) patient and wait it out. Patience. She smirked behind her scarf, and allowed herself to wallow in her memories for a moment as her late mother came to mind.

Ah, her mother, bless her heart, was as plain as dirt with muddy brown eyes and hair, but she had a heart of gold and had always emphasized on the importance of patience as a virtue. Sakura remembered winter with her family very well; it seemed to be the only time when it wasn't raining. Instead it was snowing, (frozen rain, whatever) and she still couldn't go outside! She would beg and plead like the child she was to be allowed outside and play in the white fluffy stuff that was piled halfway up their windows- her Aniki was out there with his team! – But still the answer would be _"Patience, Sakura. Wait for it to stop snowing, and then we'll see."_

Sakura couldn't help but chuckle as she remembered her fourth winter, and how she was absolutely dying of boredom because her Aniki was eight and on his own genin team now. She remembered how she read every trading manual and merchants book her parents owned in less than three days, even the stud books, and afterwards could think of nothing but the giant new horse Susu* her parents had just gotten, and how much she wanted to ride him. Though, they were thoughts of sinful pleasure because she knew there was no chance her mom would even consider letting her near Susu, let alone outside, or on him for that matter. She had said he was dangerous, and the only thing her daddy had said about him was that he was a warhorse from Kumogakure, the village hidden in the clouds.

Her solution? Sneak out early, like even before the sun rose or her precious Aniki woke up, tiptoe quietly to the back door, and then break for the safety of the barn. She had plotted for almost a full week; her mischievous four-year-old brain playing every scenario it could come up with before she was satisfied with her battle plan.

Sakura laughed despite herself, and released her shuriken before cursing. It was a good few centimeters away from the rest that clustered tightly on the tree, and she only had ten left. Shrugging off the miss, she drew another shuriken, ignorant of the metal's cold bite on her fingers, and went back to reminiscing.

She had executed the plan with perfection her Aniki would've been proud of, and had even snuck through the loose board in her pony, Iroko's stall when the barn doors were locked.

Sakura remembered stashing sugar cubes, peppermints, and carrots (because apples were too expensive so far into winter, and were better in pies) for a week prior to her little adventure, so as to not disappoint her friends with empty hands when she came. Her little feet, clad in thick, deer hide boots that protected her from frostbite, had taken her almost immediately to Susu, where she quickly paid her entry fee (a little clump of sugar.) and then scurried in his stall. Sakura, hadn't quite realized how big the horse really was until she had sidled right up next to him, drawn by his warmth because she was starting to get cold, and noticed that even if she stood on her tippy toes, she could've walked right under his shaggy belly with ease.

But she was a determined little four year old, who had ridden every horse her parents had ever traded for and was not about to stop because this one was bigger than the rest. So, with newfound spark she had somehow managed to wrestle the monsters rope halter on, bribing him with the extra sugar cubes she had been saving for Iroko, and had led him to the mounting block. How, standing just shy of three feet, she had managed to scramble onto the beast that was easily five and a half feet at the shoulder Sakura had never quite figured out. What she did learn, was that her little stunt nearly gave her mother a heart attack when the women rushed outside to see her daughter who had somehow 'tamed the beast' and rode it with only a halter and a lead rope.

Sakura laughed out loud, and remembered that the only thing her little four-year-old mind thought was, _Why is Kaa-Chan so surprised? I can ride Iroko with nothing at all. _Ya, she fell off Susu later that day.

"Uh, Sakura Chan?" She suddenly felt a dull, prodding pressure on her left arm move lower, where despite the cold's numbing qualities the innocent pressure quickly turned to a sharp pain. Sakura, startled by the sudden pain yelped and instinctively thrust the kunai towards her offender.

Jade orbs opened cautiously at first, took in the situation, and then snapped wide open. "Oh my god! Gomennasai Naruto!" A kunai held the boy captive against the tree, pinning him by the white, woolen collar of his jumpsuit. The blond gulped, before smiling sheepishly as her nimble fingers worked to free him.

"Na, it's okay Sakura-Chan." He said, cerulean eyes warm with forgiveness as he rubbed the raw spot on his neck. "I startled you, that's all."

She smiled shamefully, "Still, Naruto I should've been paying attention, not daydreaming." _Sinful pleasure that they are._ She thought begrudgingly. The guilt passed, and Sakura was suddenly made aware of her Inner screaming bloody murder at her.

"**Earth to Outer! I said that Sensei-"**

"Are you two quite done yet? Or should I just come back later?" Sakura flinched, and looked up to see her sensei and his gravity-defying hair perched on top of the wooden posts in the center of the field. There was something way his onyx eye sparkled and how his eyebrow was hiked up so high it almost disappeared made her blush as she was subjected to his gaze.

She was quick to her feet, and eagerly sent him a heated glare while her Inner beat back her traitorous blush with a club. "Kakashi sensei! It's-" a quick glance up at the sun granted her burning iris's and an idea of the time. "Almost nine o' clock!" she cried, crossing her arms. Translation, _Look who finally decided to show up._

"How very observant of you Sakura-Chan! It is indeed almost nine o' clock."

She steamed. "Uh, your late Sensei! Four hours late!" she was sorely tempted to add that any ninja worth his salt considered on time to be late, but decided against it, and settled for a heated death glare instead.

Naruto echoed her concern. "Ya sensei, where the hell were you?" his question was coupled with an accusing finger.

Their Sensei scratched the back of his head, his single eye closing in some sort of twisted sheepish smile. "Ah, yes that. Well, you see I was on my way here when a black cat crossed my path. And, well I didn't want any bad luck so I had to go all the way around Konoha to get here."

Her left eye twitched, _Black Cat my ass. What a cheap excuse! Hell, even Naruto isn't buying that._ She thought, briefly glancing over at Sasuke to see that even he, in all his highness, had developed a twitching brow. "Ya right sensei!" Naruto cried from beside her.

Their esteemed sensei only shrugged in his defense, before flash stepping in front of the group, two small bells in hand. "Now then, your job today is simple. All you have to do is get these bells from me." He jingled the bells teasingly before attaching them to his pants.

Sakura's mind immediately began running, and her eyes narrowed. _Too easy, there's definitely a catch._

Kakashi turned around, and gestured to a timer and three bento boxes that sat innocently enough on the stump behind him. "You'll have till noon to get the bells from me, so once this timer goes off the test is over. Use any weapons you want, any techniques you know, and hopefully all the brain's you've got." Naruto steamed beside her, and she elbowed him in the ribs. "Why? Because. Whoever doesn't get a bell from me by noon, will be sent back to the academy. Who knows, maybe none of you will pass and you'll all be sent back."

Naruto instantly erupted like a volcano, Sasuke's glare spoke of death, and Sakura was pre-occupied with restraining one, sputtering, profanity spewing, Naruto Uzamaki. "What! Sensei that's not fair! You can't just send us back after we've already-"

"Furthermore," The Jonin continued, undaunted by Naruto's monologue. "Whoever does not obtain a bell will be tied to that post and forced to watch me, and those who do pass to eat lunch." A choir of growling stomachs suddenly made its self known, and Sakura secretly thanked Neji for practically force-feeding her a few Onigiri earlier that day, and for the Nori that was in Kemuri's pack. "Now, you have three hours, use anything you like, and one more thing, you'll have to come at me with killing intent if you even hope to get so much as one look at these bells got it?"

"You fell for the old eraser trick. Ha! Watch, this is gonna be easy!" The orange fabric suddenly slipped from her fingers as Naruto weaseled out of her grasp, and launched himself at their sensei, kunai in hand. "Sensei you're going down!"

Kakashi tisked, and disappeared before re-appearing behind Naruto and snatching him up by the collar with such practiced ease that Sakura was sure it had been rehearsed. "Ah, ah, ah. People like you are all bark and no bite, ne?" He chided, waggling a gloved finger teasingly in front of Naruto's face. "Eager beavers are we? I didn't even say go yet, but you did come at me with the intent to kill, so I think I'm finally starting to like you." Naruto roared as their sensei dropped him like a sack of potatoes. "Now, you have three hours. Go!"

* * *

Sakura had turned tail and broke for the tree line as soon as Kakashi sensei had given them the all clear. _Not running._ She thought, sprinting a good way into the thicket of trees before she came to rest on an old Buna tree. _Putting distance between my enemy and myself._ She crouched on her branch, and put a bit of chakra into her eyes, enhancing her vision just in time to see-

"Leaf village secret finger jutsu! A thousand years of death!"

Sakura sweat dropped as she watched her sensei poke Naruto in the ass, and send him flying into the lake. _Okay, you know what, I don't even want to know._ She thought, unable to get the image of her Sensei poking Naruto's ass out of her mind._ Charging sensei alone and head on? Classic idiot Naruto thinking. Why did I expect anything different?_ She stuck around long enough to make sure Naruto was okay. She didn't have to wait very long, as just a moment later he crawled from the lake, looking very much like a wet cat as he hissed and spat profanities at the spot where their silver-haired sensei was.

_Was?_ She did a double take, only to find her sensei was indeed no longer taunting Naruto, out in the open, where she could see him._ Where did he go- damn!_ She felt his chakra signature storming toward her like a freight train, and immediately extinguished her own before turning tail and escaping deeper into the forest.

_How could I have been so stupid?_ She thought, her mind running possible scenarios as she ran, _put distance_ from her enemy.

"**You were just to busy watching Naruto get his ass poked by our perverted Sensei."** Her inner chimed.

Sakura groaned, _Look who's back. Enjoy your vacation? And what do you mean pervy sensei?_

Her Inner snickered as Sakura dodged a branch that seemingly came out of nowhere. **"You kidding me? I saw him, he was clutching his **_**Icha Icha Paradise **_**book like it was a freaking lifeline!"**

Sakura all but choked on her own breath, whether it was from her Inner's suggestive comments or because she had just missed the next branch and was currently plummeting towards the earth she didn't care to ponder. The pink haired genin quickly righted herself like a cat, and sent chakra to her feet as she met the earth. Her bones still rattled, but didn't break due to the chakra enhancement, which also muffled the sound. Though the little spurt of chakra she used was wild, and conveniently gave away her position.

_Oh well._ She thought, tucking a loose strand of obnoxiously pink hair behind her ear as she looked around. _He knows I'm here now, so it's as good a time as any to call Kemuri. _She quickly formed the horse hand sign, and sent a nearly non-existent amount of chakra into it. After a few moments, like a wolf returning her moonlight howl, another chakra signature whispered,

She hushed her own chakra, and then scrambled to take cover in a nearby pine tree. _All right, okay Sak breathe._ She thought, stilling herself until her breath was silent and her body seemed to melt into the ancient trunk. _Think, if they attack us we can run again – no too tired of that- okay, then clones or substitution, and counter with a long range attack._ Her hands twitched as the chakra signature flickered closer, like a beacon on a tracking screen it slowly grew stronger. _But remember. _She thought. _Don't let him see your Shōton release. It's best to keep it hidden for now._ Her hackles rose, her body stilled and her senses became amplified to the world. The chakra came closer, about 15 meters now.

Without warning her scar's mild itch amplified into a burning sensation, like her arm had been shoved into a vat of live embers and Sakura's focus crumbled. "Damn!" she hissed, her senses dulled as she clutched her arm in hopes of easing the strange pain that now ravaged it. The wind blew, and with it something tickled her nose.

She sniffed, something that smelled of sandalwood, and fire, and the sharp tang of metal polish. And suddenly Chakra was screaming bloody murder behind her.

Her fingers moved of their own accord and in her mind she whispered her intention, _Kesshō: Kunai._

_Ram; Dragon._

The blinding flash of a kunai was all she saw as her hands instinctively gripped the object in her hands, harder than steel yet as warm and pulsing with life as the flesh beneath her sweaty palms. The weapon led the attack as her body followed, and she turned around to face her attacker.

"Hn."

* * *

Sasuke's back met the tree as a kunai was thrust upon his neck; the weapons edge was so cold it almost burned as it pressed against his neck. Or was it so hot that it froze? Sasuke couldn't tell, as his eyes had sealed themselves shut upon the impact and onslaught of memories, both, which assaulted him.

Every breath taken in set the strange weapon biting into the tender flesh on his neck again, every breath he ushered out reminded him of the tree to his back as the bark scraped his spine. He was caught between a hard place, and another even harder place, and Sasuke didn't like it one bit. It had been a long time since someone, something; anything caught him off guard, and now, this, this Ka- a bit of pink shut his mind's mouth and caught his eye.

"Hn."

He pretended to ignore the strange kunai, pretended to ignore how as he spoke it tore for his neck like a starved wolf, hungry for flesh. He didn't dare swallow.

He watched as her eyes suddenly opened, noticed the almost primal glint that had darkened the color before she realized who he was- _Uchiha, duh_- and saw that even though she seemed slightly disgusted with herself, the grip on her strange kunai did not relent, and if anything it tightened.

When she wouldn't look him in the eye, and instead hid behind her most unusual hair, _pink?_ Sasuke sneered. The sting in his neck made him irritable and he sought the weapon that caused him pain. Though, what he saw only made his eyes widen.

It shined like a normal kunai, only brighter. It was shaped like a normal kunai, only it seemed molded to her hands perfectly. Though from the color alone any idiot could tell it was anything but a normal kunai, the way the jade seemed endless, and how it almost pulsed with something he could not explain made him wary. That, and he could practically hear it singing with chakra.

The movement of her hand caused him to snap back to attention, and he watched as she brushed her bangs behind an ear. _Cut them off._ He thought._ They're just getting in the way!_ Her eyes, striking, startling jade –_Damnit! It's just green! -_ Boldly met his own.

"Sorry, Sasuke-san." She whispered. "I didn't know it was you." He eyed her crudely; O_f course you didn't know it was me. _He thought. _What do you take me for, a fool?_ Her eyes suddenly lighted in a dangerous way, and a smirk he didn't like made her lips twitch. "You must have pretty good chakra control ne?" He scowled. _Oh, now you butter me up. Got to do better than that, of course I'm good, tell me something I don't know._

When she stared at him expectantly he huffed, "Hn." He would not give her more of an answer than that, not until she deserved it, or told him what that kunai was made of.

What he did not expect was for her to scowl right back at him, "Fine, whatever. Sorry for cutting your neck alright." She said, and then his hand snapped up to catch the roll of yellowish bandages she had tossed at him from her small pack. _Too small._ He thought. _No way she has all the necessary supplies in there. _"Here, they're special herbal bandages my Aneki gave me." The little smile she gave him startled his insides, or something like that. "Again, my bad about the-"

A chakra signature flared just a ways in front of them, on the edge of the clearing they sat at. Bold and bright and loud, it screamed a challenge to any who would take it. His glanced at Sakura only to lock eyes, and then quickly turn away.

Kakashi.

Sasuke was already pushing off the branch, honing in on his target as he smirked knowing now was the time to make his move. He had already set up all sorts of traps in that clearing and had a game plan brewing in his mind.

He wouldn't lose. He was the Uchiha Sasuke. And this was step one in killing his brother.

* * *

Naruto chuckled to himself. He was an absolute genius! That stupid Kaka- whatever his name was, must've been scared stiff by his awesome moves because he had turned tail and disappeared like a scared dog! And now, he, the great Uzamaki Naruto, future Hokage of Konoha, and greatest ninja of all time, had four bento boxes all to himself.

_Though._ He thought, trying to decide which one to eat first. _I think I'll save some for Sakura-chan too. _

* * *

The baby hairs on the back of her neck prickled, each standing at attention as a shiver racked her spine. Sakura swatted the traitorous hairs, silently promising to have Ino wax the little buggers off when this was all said and done.

Her mind wandered for a moment, and she thought about how fast Sasuke had split as soon as Kakashi sensei had released his chakra, she thought about how she had caught him off guard, and most importantly, she thought about how the pulsing crystal she had held in her hand was not some blasted shuriken, but a kunai instead.

That last part excited her.

It made her fantasize about what else she could do with the Kesshō that lived within her. It also made her fantasize about the new trick she could shove in Neji's face when she got home. She grinned. _Hehehehe._

"**That's great Outer-Chan." **Her inner said, the sarcasm that dripped from her lips made Sakura snarl. **"Yah, real great. Give yourself a pat on the back why don't you? In the middle of a battle?"** Sakura sighed. **"Besides, what about Naruto? Who knows what kind of mess he's gotten into?"** her words made Sakura sag slightly on the branch she was sitting on.

_Don't remind me._ She thought. Unconsciously she fingered the kunai in her palm, traced its perfect lines, and stroked its diamond hard surface. Her finger brushed along the edge of the kunai. _Ouch._ Sakura hissed, and drew her finger back to suck on it, though not before a few drops of blood had fallen and stained the ground. _Interesting._ She thought, sucking on her finger to still the flow of her life substance. _Even top of the line kunai, fresh from a whetstone aren't that sharp._ She smiled evilly and dispelled the kunai, watching as it shattered into crystalline dust.

She frowned as the angry chakra from behind her suddenly ceased it's screaming. _Damn. _She thought. _Kakashi sensei must have won already. _She looked towards the direction of the two chakras, one hummed while the other, more exhausted one seemed to foam with anger. Sakura sighed. _I really hope Kemuri gets here soon. _She wouldn't use the Ninba to win her battle, but the genin did plan to use him to distract her sensei and maybe buy her enough time to do a few jutsu's and hopefully, snag the bells.

_Getting the bells_ – she thought. – _Is not the problem. It's just, what do I do once I get them? _Her head pounded and she sat down on her branch, leg's dangling. _I mean, do I give one to Sasuke, or Naruto? Or maybe not keep any at all? _She groaned. _No, Anko-Nee would skin me alive if I didn't keep one._

Her Inner harrumphed inside her head. "Why the hell does that idiot only have two bells anyway? When there's three of you guys, one's bound to fail."

Sakura felt the well-oiled gears of her mind begin to turn. _"A house divided against itself, cannot stand." _She thought, rehearsing one of the quotes Kemuri often told her. _Aw, screw it. If all of us can't pass together, then none of us should. I'll just get Kemuri to burn the bells, or something like that._

Speaking of Kemuri.

Sakura jumped down from her branch, and the gargantuan horse smiled at her, "Hey kiddo. How's it going so far?" his voice was deep and calming and he seemed completely at ease.

She grinned haughtily back at him, "Okay, so the thing is I haven't actually fought Kakashi sensei yet." She said, ignoring the ninba's look of feigned disbelief as she waited for him to lie down.

"Alright, so then it's the Uchiha brat who's just finished getting his butt whooped." She hummed, and nodded as she dove into the packs, grabbing a soldier pill, water bottles and various other things. "Ya know…" the horse began, his voice made her stopped her from scarfing down another soldier pill, and look him in the eye. "A little birdie told me that Sasuke got into a spat with a kitten. He certainly had the pretty little scratch on his neck to prove it." The horse waggled his eyebrows at her and Sakura felt the heat jump to her cheeks before she could stop it.

She slapped his dappled ass, hard. "Kemuri!" she whisper shouted, the plastic water bottle collapsed under her grip. "You little ass, he just, startled me that's all!" The horse whinnied as he sprung to his feet like a rabbit, and she quickly followed.

_Swish._

Sakura spat, and shook her head as the equines bistre brown, wiry tail smacked her in the face. Sakura glared at her companion, "I'll get you for that later ya know."

He nickered, and nipped a strand of her hair. "Of course you will kiddo."

She was locked, loaded, and seconds away from firing back her own insult when the humming chakra on her radar moved, and fast. A sense of Déjà vu flooded her senses as the chakra, or rather it's owner, and her enemy made it's way toward her. "Go! Now!" Sakura hissed, hand poised and ready to give a slap of encouragement if the stubborn horse persisted, but when she turned around he was already gone.

"Who needs to go Sakura-Chan?" Her hackles jumped and all the willpower in the world could do nothing to prevent how her lips curled back to reveal slightly sharpened canines, and how her hand twitched, aching for the warmth of a weapon.

"Kakashi-Sensei." She said, doing everything she could to keep from snarling as she began eying the silver-haired Jonin and sizing him up. A flash of orange drew her attention and suddenly the blush was racing back to her cheeks as Sakura spotted the book that was nestled securely in the Jōnin's hand. _What the- Icha Icha Paradise? A porn book!_ She fought the urge to wretch._ Ohmigod! Inner was right!_

He chuckled, and she prayed he hadn't noticed her discovery. Then again, he did openly showcase his… erm, hobby. "Mah, mah Sakura-Chan. So hateful, you hurt my heart." She glared, that was the same sad-sap, crap routine Kemuri used on her, _all the time. _Sakura made sure that her expression sent the message to him loud and clear.

Kakashi sensei got the message all right, and apparently it was the war horn of the pervert language. Because, he was armed with several kunai- _where the hell did they come from_! - And suddenly attacking her.

Her Inner screamed at her to move, nearly popping her eardrums from the inside out. So Sakura did, well her hands did. They, at least were flying.

_Tiger; Boar; Ox; Dog._

_Ram: Boar; Ox; Dog; Snake._

Her eyes had easily caught the glint of five kunai as a ray of broken sunlight hit them when they flew, en route towards her, before she heard the sickening squelch of a direct hit. But Sakura only smirked, and had already set to work forming the next set of hand seals.

_Ram; Dragon._

Before her eyes, her unfortunate looking clone disappeared with a telltale '_pop'_, and was instantly replaced with a small, innocent looking shard of crystal. She grinned; the crystal itself was innocent enough. The exploding tag she had slapped on the back of it at the last minute was not.

And all at once, Sakura formed the tiger seal, gave a mighty roaring _'Katsu!'_, threw her newly formed crystal kunai straight towards her sensei, and beat a hasty retreat to a tree limb, so as not to get caught in the explosion that proceeded to take place.

She only wished she could've seen her sensei's face.

The explosion quickly surprised even her as small, razor sharp shards of Nephite jade shrapnel came flying towards her. One caught her in the cheek, a few on her arms, and one, particularly sharp piece found it's way into her stomach. _Damnit!_ She hissed inwardly, ducking behind the tree before any more could find they're way to her. _Traitorous crystal! Why is it that somehow I still end up bleeding?_

After a few, short moments the heat from the explosion calmed a bit, and the dust it raised had settled so Sakura peeked out from behind her tree while grabbing for some bandages to wrap her arm. _Now, where are you sensei? _Her eyes narrowed as the last of the smoke cleared, revealing nothing but some scorched earth and blackened kunai's. Her green eyes widened in surprise. _What the-_

"Boo."

There was no warning, absolutely none at all before sakura suddenly felt a searing pain tear its way across her back. Her concentration flew out the window, and she plummeted towards the earth, and only managed to halfway right herself before she hit the round. Hard.

She had only time to manage a kneel, nursing her now throbbing arm when the silver haired Jōnin dropped from the blackness of the trees, and landed in front of her. Her heart was beating so hard she wondered if he could hear it, her temples were throbbing, her back burned with pain, and her scarred arm hurt so bad she was sure it was broken.

She stared at him through wide, frightened jade eyes. _Is he trying to kill me?_ Her heart merely exploded t the thought. And, when he took a step forward she panicked, and suddenly she was snarling at him and baring teeth like a cornered animal would. And suddenly Sakura was scared, terrified, frightened, startled, and spooked. She was any and all of the above.

Her sensei chuckled, but make no mistake, she heard how it whispered of evil things that made her spine shiver. "Sneaky, Sakura-Chan. Substituting your clone for a rock with hidden exploding tags? Clever." She narrowed her eyes and bared her teeth more. _Stop mocking me!_ He began to circle her, like a predator would his prey. "Using the rock to create painful shrapnel? Even more clever." He twirled a kunai around his finger, and she tensed when their eyes met. "Not clever enough though. Not even close."

Sakura's stomach lurched and suddenly the kunai was buried an inch in front of her dirty leg, and her sensei was gone. _Ohmigod._ She wanted to cry, she could feel her throat closing up and her eyes begin to sting. _I'm such a coward! What kind of ninja am I? Being so scared like that. _She bit the inside of her cheek, hard, and hastily wiped her burning eyes with a tattered fist. _Who am I kidding?_ She thought, smiling sadly at the ground as her back burned, her arm screamed and she sniffed_. I'm not a-_

The bushes to her left suddenly rustled, and Sakura quickly ceased to continue wallowing in her misery in favor of creating another kunai. The chakra in her palms fizzled, and her headache roared. Not enough.

"Who's there!" she croaked, snarling at the bush when it produced- "Sasuke?"

Her jade eyes widened unspeakably as her teammate crawled, moaning in pain and covered in blood, from the bush. "Sakura." He moaned, reaching a shaky hand out to her that for some reason made her flinch away. "Sakura, help me."

The pink haired genin felt her stomach drop to her feet and her heart jump to her throat. "Sa-Sa-Sasuke?" she whispered. She wanted to help but when she tried her body screamed at her almost as loudly as her Inner did.

"**Outer-Chan!"** She screamed, tearing Sakura from a fear induced stupor. **"Get a fucking grip! Something's wrong here! Very wrong!"**

Sakura furrowed her brow, confused. _Wha-_ A drop of sweat fell from her head and onto her finger, burning it's way into the open cut she had acquired earlier in the day. She sucked on it. _What are you talking about?_ She thought.

Her gaze suddenly meandered over to where she had cut her finger, and then down to the ground below it. Her eyes bulged, the injured finger fell from her mouth, and Sakura growled when reality hit her like a freight train.

There was no blood on that earth. _Genjutsu!_

* * *

Kakashi smirked once he was sure the girl was trapped in his Genjutsu. It was too bad, really. She had actually been quite good for a genin, but she didn't seem to know anything besides academy jutsu, and judging by how scared she seemed, just wasn't cut out for the ninja world.

_Pity too._ He thought as he began to advance toward the girl. _She would have made quite the interesting ninja._

He was about five feet away from her, intending to pick her up since the timer was bound to go off soon when the ground decided to explode beneath his feet.

"What the?"

It wasn't the fact that the ground suddenly wasn't there, or that he hadn't managed to sense the threat sooner that surprised him. No, what surprised him was the enormous, terrifying, and absolutely livid horse that popped out of the ground. Like a fricking daisy.

Kakashi had expected the girl wasn't going down without a fight. He had seen the spark in her eyes and the fire in her heart, and it was the same fire that burned in all three of the genin's. Naturally, he knew she'd have a few tricks up her sleeve; he'd come to expect it since being introduced to Sasuke's great fireball technique and Naruto's shadow clones.

What Kakashi had **not** expected, was for the girl to have a summoning animal. And not some cute little kitty, or puppy. No, like a real summon. And it was a Nin-ba, which knew how to use the headhunter jutsu.

Kakashi easily smothered his slight surprise as he jumped out of the way just in time to avoid having his skull smashed in and his brains turned to much by the horse's massive, flailing, iron-shod hooves.

But, He had no sooner flash stepped a few feet away when the horse was suddenly there too. It was then and only then that Kakashi realized how big the creature really was. _Kami, I barely reach its shoulders! _He thought, slightly amused when he began to flash step again.

Only for the horse to appear rearing and striking right where he was, before he even got there. _Fast._ He thought narrowing his eyes. Though, what really threw him for a loop was when the beast decided to talk.

"Hatake Kakashi." Its voice was gruff as it's sepia eyes narrowed. The horses brown-rimmed ears were pinned almost flat against his neck, just behind his seal brown forelock. The horse snorted, and Kakashi was surprised when smoke began to billow from the equine's blackened nose in a way that reminded him of the Hokage and his smoking pipe.

He took a moment to inspect the horse more closely and notice that it's coat was the color of champagne, with dapples on his muscled hindquarters and it had the most curious feather shaped markings that covered his eyes and stretched from his nose. The horse also had brown stockings up to his knees on all four legs, and zebra striping that almost touched his belly. A dark, dorsal stripe ran up the beast's spine where it ended in the large, seal brown colored tail. A glint of metal caught his attention, and he noticed two feathers and a small, circular, dog tag braided into his main. The fact that the dog tag bore the symbol of Konoha was re-assuring to the Jonin.

Kakashi nodded his head towards the horse. "Aye, I assume you are Sakura-Chan's summon?" he asked, careful to keep his voice neutral.

A puff of smoke jumped from the beasts nose when it snorted, pawed, and stared him down in such a way that for only the tiniest second, Kakashi felt intimidated. Of course, when your opponent probably weighed a ton and a half, measured up to 11 feet tall, and was as fast as you were it was okay to be wary. "Kemuri." The horse answered, before tossing his head. The Jōnin thought back to the previous day's introductions and wondered for a moment if this was the same Kemuri that both Sakura and Naruto had mentioned. _Interesting._

From behind the horse- Kemuri- the figure on the ground gasped just as a bell chimed in the distance, and Kakashi, knowing that the summon wouldn't follow him unless ordered, dashed away into the trees. The whole exchange, he duly noted as he jumped away, had lasted only ten seconds.

He smirked beneath his mask. _Besides missing Nin and ANBU, that's the fastest anyone's ever broken my Genjutsu. Brat._

* * *

"No, you're not going back to the Academy. All three of you brats are going to be dropped from the program entirely. So don't bother dreaming about being a ninja anymore."

Sakura scowled.

Today was just not her day. She had not only failed to get a bell, but now she was being told that there was no chance of another chance. And, on top of that her back still ached from the kunai that cut it, her scar felt like it was on fire for no particular reason, and she was pretty sure she had fried the chakra channels in the ends of her fingers messing around with crystal kunai. And best of all Kemuri was watching the whole thing just a few meters away.

_Ya._ She thought. _Today sucks._ _Though._ Her gaze drifted to the left to land on Naruto, who was thrashing against his bonds. _It could be worse I suppose, I could be tied to a post like Naruto. _Her heart continued plummeting. _Ya, not helping._

"What the hell sensei? You can't just stop us from being a ninja!" Naruto screeched from beside her, and Sakura had to admit that she wasn't going to take this one laying down. But, apparently Sasuke was.

"I can and I will. All you three are is a bunch of whining, sniveling brats who don't know the first thing about being a ninja."

At that moment, it seemed as if something inside Sasuke snapped and he charged at their sensei, only to end up eating dust a second later. Kakashi had trapped him under his foot non the nicely. Sakura growled. She had to become a ninja. _So I can kick this guy's ass when I'm older._

Sakura clenched her fist and snarled at her teacher with fiery green eyes and a kind of feral ferociousness. "Well what did you expect huh? We're just genin, we couldn't possibly take you down all by ourselves." She made a pre-emptive strike and elbowed Naruto so he wouldn't say anything stupid. "And you, you only have two bells! But there are three of us! How can you expect people to work together when they know that one of them isn't going to make it! No one's that selfless, Nobody." She clenched her fists. "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

Everything was quite for a moment, before Kakashi nodded. "Teamwork." Sasuke was suddenly released from his prison, and Sakura frowned.

"Teamwork? What's that supposed to mean sensei?" Naruto asked, his cerulean eyes shining with confusion.

"It means that the object of this exercise was teamwork. I could give a rat's ass if any of you managed to get a bell." He sighed, and crossed his arms.

Sakura, felt like beating herself with a stick. _I'm so stupid!_

"Why do you think Ninja are put on squads in the first place, huh? It's not just because teams of three look pretty, or because it gives someone else a human shield they can screw over later! No! Ninja must learn to work together as a team!" Here he pointed at Naruto.

"Naruto, you rushed head on into battle blindly, without even thinking of a battle strategy at all. And, you tried to eat everyone's lunch when you thought we weren't looking!"

At this Naruto vehemently protested, "Not true! I was going to save some for you guys! Honest!"

Kakashi shook his head. "That's beside the point. Sasuke, you think you're so much better than everyone else." The boy scowled, and sakura saw her sensei narrow his eye. "The truth is your not, and your never going to be. You need to get an ego check and learn some humility because if you don't, your not gonna last at all in this business."

Sakura's stomach flopped; she knew what was coming next. "And you, Sakura are probably the worst of all." Her eyes flashed and she snarled at him in shock. "You have the skills for teamwork! You work just fine with Kemuri! Yet you chose not to use them. You didn't help Sasuke even when you were right next to him before he rushed off to battle, and you never once checked on Naruto. If you could work with them as well as you do your horse then maybe you would have gotten a bell." She hung her head in shame, but he wasn't done yet. "You probably figured out what this test was really about long ago, didn't you."

The guilt was eating her alive, but she nodded and hid behind her coral hair. She had begun to think that something was fishy about the test long ago. All three of the genin were silent and solemn, even Naruto.

"But." Her head perked just like her teammates beside her, and hope flooded her heart. "I'm a nice guy, so I'm going to give you another chance." Kakashi walked over and handed both her and Sasuke a bento box. "You two are allowed to eat lunch but Naruto doesn't get any because he tried to steal it before." The blond visibly wilted. "After lunch we'll try this again, but remember Naruto gets no food or else you really will fail."

A puff of smoke was all he left behind.

Silence reigned for a moment before Sakura, emotionally exhausted, sighed loudly. "Well this sucks." She said, fiddling with her chopsticks. Sasuke hn'ed from the other side of Naruto and Sakura couldn't help but think it sounded like an agreement. "Naruto, I can't eat with you tied to that stump, it's just cruel."

He wiggled his hands and gave her a smile. "Nah! I'll be fine Sakura-Chan!" His stomach practically roared.

Her little pink eyebrow hiked up. "Really Naruto?"

"I told you Sakura-chan, it's fine! You shouldn't have to starve because of me!" she was about to protest again when Sasuke was suddenly holding out his bento towards Naruto.

Sakura swore she almost had an aneurism.

"Here, dobe. We can't have you be hungry; it'll slow us all down. More than usual." Naruto began shouting cries of outrage again, but Sakura smiled because she knew that in his own special way, Sasuke was accepting Naruto.

She chose that moment to remember the horse casually grazing behind them. "Wait Sasuke!" she said, bento blocking with her hand. "I have a bunch of Nori in Kemuri's travel pack that I keep for snacks. Let me get some of that and Naruto can have my bento." She grinned. "Plus, I don't think I could stomach any rice right now." That little crystal shard still buried in her gut would make sure of that.

He seemed skeptical but must have been satisfied with her answer because he nodded, and proceeded to eat a sardine. Sakura smiled and then called Kemuri over. His heavy feet shook the earth when he walked. "Yes kiddo?" he asked, eyes sparkling with warmth and something else entirely.

Sakura rummaged through the leather bags strapped to his back. "Just grabbing some Nori, okay Kemuri." Her hand brushed over a bottle, and Sakura grabbed that too before sitting down.

"Sakura-Chan, are you okay?" the girl mentally cursed knowing that her friend had caught sight of the pain relieving ointment she grabbed.

She smiled brightly at him, "Ya, I'm fine Naruto. My scars just being an asshole again."

The relief that washed over Naruto's face made her feel, well, loved. "Well, okay Sakura-Chan. That's good." He was her friend, and he cared about her. Now if only she could get Sasuke to do the same.

* * *

"Hn. What scar?"

She looked almost startled when she met his gaze, and if he squinted he could make out the beginnings of a blush that made the urge to smirk almost uncontrollable.

She carefully pulled her left sleeve back, revealing and ugly red scar. "It's nothing." She said, smiling in a way that made him think her fond of it. He glared at her. "When I was seven my house caught on fir and, I managed to get caught on fire. I guess I must have been cooking or something because the fire wouldn't go out, and so now I have this."

His eyes followed her finger as she pointed to the angry red flesh on her arm, the scar started just below her wrist and stretched almost to the junction of her elbow. It wasn't an ugly scar per say, not like Iruka's.

For some reason Sasuke suddenly felt angry, angry for whoever had caused her house to catch on fire because he knew she wasn't telling the whole story. Whatever, he'd let it go for now.

* * *

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad he hadn't pushed any farther because she knew she wouldn't be able to lie to him if he had asked what really happened.

A rumble reminded her of Naruto, who was now smiling sheepishly. She grinned fondly, "Sorry Naruto." And grabbed the bento box. She chose a piece of sushi, and picked it up carefully before she brought it to Naruto's mouth. He glowed beet red as he ate the sushi from her chopsticks.

"Thanks, Shakra-tan!" he said. Sakura sweat dropped as a piece of rice fell out of his mouth, and had half a mind to scold him when the weather took a turn for the worst.

Thunder crashed, lighting flashed and the wind picked up so fast it had her grappling for Kemuri's tail and Naruto's arm before she could stop herself. To make matters worse, Kakashi appeared before them.

Crap! She thought, her jaw clenched so her teeth wouldn't chatter. He saw us! But what else was I supposed to do? Clouds began swirling above her sensei's head and lighting lit up the sky.

"You all-!"

She squeezed her eyes shut and clung to Naruto like a lifeline as she waited for him to doom her with that single word.

"Pass!"

"What!" All three genin cried at once. Sakura was confused, like really confused. And she could count on one hand the number of times she hadn't had a clue like this.

Her sensei seemed to smile beneath his mask, not that she could tell. "Sakura, Sasuke, even though I told you two it was forbidden to let Naruto eat you still fed him, even when you knew the consequences." Sakura wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing, and Sasuke's face was to schooled to tip her off.

"A ninja who breaks the rules is trash, but a ninja who abandons his teammates is worse than trash." The Jōnin's eye crinkled. "Alright team 7, meet me here tomorrow at six o' clock sharp. Alright?" he didn't bother to wait for an answer and was gone in a puff of smoke.

A couple of things ran through Sakura's mind as Naruto cheered in triumph beside her. One, she passed! Two, she really needed to learn how to disappear like that, and three, she suddenly realized that Anko had told her about Kakashi several times before.

"Sakura-Chan?" she shook her head and turned to Naruto.

"Yes?"

"You okay? You kind of spaced out for a minute there."

She laughed, and smiled at him. "Ya Naruto. I was just thinking that Kakashi's gonna be a really good teacher." He looked at her like she had lost her marbles, and she laughed again. "Well, I don't know about you guys but I could go for some Ichiraku's ramen. You in? I'm buying."

Naruto's face lit up with joy and he cheered as best he could. "Ya! Ichiraku's!"

Sasuke hn'd, and for a minute she was afraid he would refuse when suddenly he smirked. "I'm game. As long as your buying." She smiled brightly at him as they both rose to her feet. Sakura hopped on Kemuri, and somehow convinced Sasuke to ride with her. So with the both of them seated snuggly on board the Ninba he trotted off.

Sakura frowned, "Wait, aren't we forgetting something?"

"GUYS! WHAT ABOUT ME!"

* * *

Dictionary

(Please, point out my mistakes if I make any! Google translate was heavily involved in this, just for the record.)

**Susu** – Soot, or ash. This is the big black stallion sakura rides when she is young.

**Iroko** – (this one I kind of threw together so it's probably wrong.) Iro= color: ko= child/ popular ending for female names. So, color child. Chose this name for Iroko, Sakura's first pony, was of the paint color. (To non-horsy people, its those horses that look like cows, with big white and brown/black patches on their body. Like Hidalgo.) Sakura did name Iroko.

**Gomennasai** (ごめんなさい) = I'm sorry. It is more formal than just a simple Gomen, but is still a slightly informal term to be used with friends or acquaintances.

**Japanese beech/Buna tree (Fagus crenata)** : A deciduous tree of the beech family of fagacae, native to japan and is a dominant tree in japans deciduous frosts.

* * *

AHH! *bows repeatedly* Sumimasen minna-san! I'm so sorry it took me so long to finish this! But It's extra long? See?

And, I know, I changed the title and I will be altering the description soon but I think it fits the story better. Brownies to anyone who knows what Tatsu means off the top of their head! Anway, please SUBSCRIBE, FAVORITE, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY REVIEW! I really want to get at least five for this chapter.

Target word count: 5,000 words

Chapter word count: 10,150 words (YIKES)

Total word count: meh, fanfiction will tell you.


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